Author: Jessica Roberts Martin

Since beginning work in November 2015, the Commission on Diversity & Inclusion has launched six working groups. Coffees and meetings are being formed to give faculty and staff the opportunity to learn about the groups’ work and engage in the process.

The Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis will be buzzing with construction activity this summer. Crews will begin renovations on Olin Library and Bryan Hall, and start utility work in advance of upcoming enhancements to the East End of the Danforth Campus.

Dingli Shen, professor of international relations at Fudan University and vice dean of Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, will present the Cabot Corporation-Xinsheng Zhang Lecture on “Cybersecurity in U.S.-China Relations,” Monday, Feb. 8, in the Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall.

Washington University in St. Louis faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited to march in this year’s St. Louis PrideFest Parade on Sunday, June 28.

In response to a growing number of alumni and expanding research and education partnerships in China, Washington University in St. Louis is opening an office in Shanghai’s Knowledge Innovation Community. “The Shanghai office will serve as a key resource for our alumni, prospective students and friends,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said.

The fifth annual Lavender Recognition Ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, in College Hall on the South 40. Co-hosted by LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership and the Social Justice Center, the ceremony honors the achievements and contributions of graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students and their allies.

​​A student-led strategic consulting firm, The BALSA Group, is expanding the technology transfer capabilities of the university while broadening career opportunities for its members and supporting local economic growth and development. BALSA has become a national model for similar student groups.​

LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership will host the James M. Holobaugh Honors Ceremony at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the Knight Center at Washington University in St. Louis. Holobaugh Honors is an annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual or ally (referred to as LGBTQIA) community recognition and awards ceremony that honors undergraduate students, graduate students, staff, faculty and community members who have contributed to LGBTQIA visibility, equality and community.

​​Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case is the corporate equivalent of the road to Damascus, says Elizabeth Sepper, JD, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “Many more corporations will find religion to opt out of regulation that affects their bottom line,” Sepper says. “Before Hobby Lobby, businesses lost claims to fire pregnant women, refuse to promote non-Christians, discriminate against gays, and pay below the minimum wage. “After Hobby Lobby, they seem likely to succeed.”​

At about 4 p.m. today, Washington University in St. Louis learned from the St. Louis County Department of Health that county, State of Missouri, and federal agency officials have determined the bear cub that had been present on campus does not pose a rabies threat. They also have advised that our students are not at any risk of exposure to rabies and, therefore, will not have to receive treatment. The bear cub does not have to go through any additional testing and will be spared. We are very pleased that this unfortunate situation has come to the best possible conclusion for everyone involved — our students, our community, and the bear cub.