Theme: Momentum

Momentum: the impetus and driving force gained by the development of a process or course of events.

This theme brings together the past, present, and future. We both celebrate and reflect on our history, building on it and carrying into the future with resolve and change.

Knight Bauer Hall - Emerson Auditorium
Snow Way, 1 Brookings Drive
St. Louis, Missouri, 63130
United States

Jessika Baral

Dance Activist

Jessika Baral grew up in California. She has been dancing for the past 18 years and teaching dance for the past 7. She founded Our Chance to Dance, a nonprofit based in St. Louis focused on using movement to empower, heal, and connect. She also is a captain for the WashU Indian Classical Dance Team and competes on WashU’s Bhangra Dance Team. She is a junior at WashU studying Biology on the Computational Biology and Genomics Track. She started the ‘Move to Heal’ movement in the US and abroad through her dance workshops.

Joe Beggs

Biotech Entreprenuer

Born and raised in Kelso, a farming village in Southeast Missouri, Joe Beggs learned from his family how to grow peaches and from his teachers how to become a scientist. Fast forward to the present, and Joe has researched how to grow organs in the lab, studied proteins below the diffraction limit of light, and interned at a Billionaire’s fast-paced start-up incubator in NYC. He is a Dual-Degree Engineering Student who has a BA in biophysics from Grinnell College in Iowa and is now earning a BS in biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. Joe’s passion for innovation is targeted at the intersection of science and business. Joe is the founder of two start-ups and knows how to scuba dive.

Kaitlyn Herndon

Storyteller

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Kaitlyn is a senior majoring in English with a concentration in fiction writing, minoring in Russian. On campus, she is one of three art directors for Unscripted, WashU’s version of The Moth, and an associate justice on Student Union’s Constitutional Council. After a stint in the legal field, working for the Nevada Supreme Court and writing new policy for the Nevada Legislature, Kaitlyn spent two weeks studying for the LSAT only to realize that law school was not for her. So, she returned to her first love, storytelling. It is her dream to use art to comfort and guide people through the mire of difficult or misunderstood emotions. She hopes to tell stories that will give people something to hold onto when the world seems darkest. She is moving to L.A. after graduation to write and direct scary movies, which she somehow thinks can achieve the aforementioned.

Lexi Jackson

Public Policy Enthusiast

Lexi Jackson is originally from the small town of Nixa, Missouri. She is currently a senior at Washington University in St. Louis studying Organization and Strategic Management and Political Science with a minor in Spanish. On campus, Lexi serves as the Executive Director of the student-run consulting and design firm Bear Studios. Lexi also founded the university's first Diversity and Inclusion Summit with several of her peers. Lexi has worked in the energy policy space during the past two summers, seeking to bring clean energy opportunities to rural areas like her own hometown. In the future, she plans to continue working in public policy and public service with a focus on serving the diverse communities throughout the State of Missouri.

Ruth Durrell

Changemaker

Hanna "Ruth" Durrell is a proud Milwaukee, Wisconsin native studying Educational Studies and Sociology. She pursues her passion for social justice and bridging the education gap between students of different social economic backgrounds in her previous role as a Peer Mentor and current role as a Student Program Coordinator for the Deneb STARS program, a supportive community for Pell grant eligible students. She is also a sophomore RA for Shanedling and is a Civic Scholar. Ruth's Civic project focused on improving the educational experiences of low income and minority students by making sure they are taught by diverse teachers who reflect their identities. Additionally, she is one of the student representatives to the Board of Trustees. For fun, Ruth writes and performs poetry with WU- SLam, WashU's premiere and only spoken word poetry group. Ruth is excited to graduate and plans to work in education and community based non profit programs.