Diversity & Inclusion

WashU’s environment includes numerous offices and labs. When considering the university’s environmental impact, these spaces are important to consider, as they consume energy, use materials, and generate waste. By certifying with the Green Office Program, employees across the university can make a measurable difference in reducing their office’s impact, all while supporting the university’s broader sustainability goals.

An image of WashU

The Charles F. Knight Center was honored as Venue of the Year at the 2024 MPI Circle of Excellence Awards. The Meeting Professionals International Circle of Excellence Awards annually awards one local venue with Venue of the Year for their exceptional meeting and event spaces, hospitality, food, and service. The Knight Center is an International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) Certified Venue.

The staff ombuds works as an independent entity with whom staff, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows can discuss topics of concern in a confidential, impartial, and informal space.

The League of American Bicyclists, the premier grassroots advocacy organization encouraging better bicycling and protecting the rights of people who bike, has honored WashU’s Danforth Campus with a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly University award in recognition of the institution’s achievements in promoting and enabling safe, accessible bicycling on campus.

WashU has joined a regional effort to collect a hard-to-recycle material: election yard signs, now through Nov. 14. The program also will accept departments’ corrugated plastic signs and metal stakes.

Level III arboreta must have at least 500 distinct species of trees; WashU has approximately 750, including 140 of the 150 species native to Missouri. In total, WashU is home to roughly 6,500 trees — 2,000 more trees than just five years ago. To qualify for Level 3, arboreta must meet multiple criteria, such as offering substantial educational programming, collaborating with others and sharing data. WashU’s arboretum is one of 48 recognized as Level III across the world.

Apryle M. Gladney has been appointed interim vice chancellor and chief human resources officer at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Nichol Luoma, executive vice chancellor and chief administrative officer.

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the first dedicated home for Arts & Sciences on the Danforth Campus took place Oct. 8 at Washington University in St. Louis.

The building will house some of the school’s premier departments and programs and serve as a cornerstone for scholarly and educational partnerships with other schools and units across campus.

For the second straight year, WashU has won the Citizens for Modern Transit College Transit Challenge. The annual competition encourages students, staff and faculty from local colleges to log their rides on MetroLink and Metro buses for bragging rights and the College Transit Trophy.