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2021-2022 Graduate Policy Scholar Induction Ceremony

Forty-One New Inductees Join the Ranks of Trained Graduate Policy Scholars

On May 12, 2022, the Graduate Policy Scholars Program inducted forty-one new scholars. These  students dedicate themselves to a yearlong learning experience designed to enhance their knowledge, skills and abilities around policy and advocacy. This marks the program’s fifth year, and now over 250 students are Graduate Policy Scholar alumni originating from schools across the Danforth campus.

Special guests at the ceremony included Maxine Clark and Bob Fox, founders of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute. Clark provided words of wisdom and encouraged the inductees to use their new tools to create systemic and equitable change in St. Louis and beyond. She gave a personal invitation to all scholars to visit the new Delmar DivINe, an innovative shared working space that is dedicated to creating social change in St. Louis’ most impacted areas.  

Gary Parker, director of the Clark-Fox Policy Institute and creator of the Graduate Policy Scholars Program served as the keynote speaker.  Building Grassroots Political Power, Parker’s insightful talk, provided a retrospective of his career and a roadmap through advocacy, community organizing, and the power of policy.  He stated, “You are a part of a growing network of trained policy scholars and are positioned to make sweeping contributions toward dismantling systems that are designed to keep vulnerable populations voiceless and unseen.” Parker empowered the graduates to use the skills learned in the program to help activate and amplify equity through policy change and implementation. “The movers and the shakers in the community are you,” said Parker.

A special thanks to Graduate Policy Scholars Program Student Ambassador Tyler Frank, as well as to program advisors Saffiyah Poole, Dan Ferris, and Sarah Moreland-Russell.

The Graduate Policy Scholar Program is produced in partnership with the Clark-Fox Policy Institute and the Social Policy Institute.