Diversity & Inclusion

Creativity Thrives in Diversity

The Sam Fox School strives to increase the diversity of our community, nurture an inclusive learning and work environment, and promote a culture and ethos that values diversity, inclusion, and equitable success. We consider it an essential mission and responsibility of the School to engage critical societal issues in St. Louis. We believe that art, architecture, and design are uniquely positioned to address these challenges in a meaningful way, and understanding context and history is essential to being part of change.

Find more information about our current actions and updates related to diversity, equity, and inclusion here>>

We welcome feedback on how we can advance diversity and inclusion efforts within our studios, galleries, and classrooms.

Share your ideas with us>>

Diversity & Inclusion News

Learn more about how members of the Sam Fox School community explore topics related to diversity, inclusion, and equity in their work by checking out our News section>>

Diversity & Inclusion Resources

Find additional Sam Fox School resources here>>

The Sam Fox School Fairness & Diversity Committee advises the Dean's Office on diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. Find out more about their work here>>
 
Washington University’s commitment to diversity and inclusion>> 
Exhibitions & Programs at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum>>

Our Context in St. Louis

St. Louis is our home, and its complicated history and present-day context shape our work and experiences in the Sam Fox School. Our city faces challenges that are present across the United States, but it is vital to confront the historical roots of St. Louis’ specific legacies of racism, sexism, displacement, exclusion, and political division.

Located on the nation’s most important interior waterway, St. Louis is at once a borderland, a commercial hub, a major point of transit, and a space of confluence and division. The city is part of the region historically inhabited by several native populations, initially the Mississippian mound-building culture, and, later, the Osage and the Illini, whose populations were driven out and destroyed in the 18th and 19th centuries by settler colonialism known as westward expansion.

History has shaped our present context. Key events that have shaped our community include: the departure of Lewis and Clark, the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott trial, the 1904 World’s Fair and Olympics, women’s suffrage, Pruitt–Igoe’s construction and demolition, immigration, the Ferguson uprising, and more.

The consequences of institutionally sanctioned displacement and exclusion in St. Louis are felt in everyday inequities: in healthcare, education, nutrition, housing, public safety, the legal system, and other basic human rights. They are made manifest in events that make national headlines and in subtler, everyday offenses that escape public scrutiny.

The Sam Fox School is committed to working with individuals, organizations, governments, and communities in the St. Louis region through our research, teaching, and practice, to address these pressing issues. How we engage in the region through the Office for Socially Engaged Practice>>

Learn more about St. Louis as a place to live, learn, and create>>

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Towards Racial Equity>>
For the Sake of All: A report on the health and well-being of African Americans in St. Louis and why it matters for everyone [PDF]>>
Segregation in St. Louis: Dismantling the Divide [PDF]>>
Equity Indicators Baseline Report (City of St. Louis)>>