Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, has been selected as the 23rd U.S. poet laureate, a move that will inspire Native Americans throughout the country, says Kellie Thompson, director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at Washington University in St. Louis.

In the United States, almost 50,000 people die every year from suicide. While participating in a June 13 briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., a Washington University in St. Louis expert testified that — amid the need nationally to stem violence in schools and elsewhere — suicide remains preventable.

Early exposure to emotional violence “significantly” increases the chances that youths will contemplate suicide, according to new research from three countries conducted by the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

With the goal of preventing youth suicide by helping schools set up a student support system, the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis hosted the Hope Policy Academy June 6.

Kathy Kraninger, who was named director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) six months ago, will talk about the bureau’s new directions and initiatives in savings policy at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, in Hillman Hall’s Clark-Fox Forum.

The standards and expectations to which men and woman generally conform impact health across life stages, health sectors and world regions, finds a new Brown School study. It’s part of a series of research being done that aims to promote gender-equitable policies and programs.

Nebraska’s legislature, assisted by research and guidance from Washington University in St. Louis, on May 24 unanimously  approved a universal Child Development Account (CDA) policy that will cover every resident born in the state on or after Jan. 1, 2020. Margaret Clancy, policy director for the Center for Social Development at the Brown School, advised lawmakers on the policy.

Once undocumented, Brown’s Robert Sagastume is advocating for policies and laws that will help immigrants access higher education. Expanded access is a win-win for us all, Sagastume says. “Latinx people are very community oriented and often pursue careers in nursing and teaching — positions that are going unfilled in our state. Why wouldn’t you want to leverage all of that potential to benefit our state?”

Five PhD candidates at Washington University in St. Louis were inducted into the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society at the annual Bouchet Conference on Diversity and Graduate Education April 5-6 at Yale University.

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to engaging with its global partners to help address our biggest challenges together. This spirit of collaboration was evident at the inaugural meeting of the Africa initiative, held April 23 on the Danforth Campus.