WashU’s Olin Business School received a $10 million donation from alumnus Jerry Kent, BSBA ‘78, MBA ‘79, and his wife, Judy Kent, to strengthen its Business of Health program and its leadership, the University announced in late August. The gift will be used to create an endowed deanship and to expand the Business of Health Initiative, which explores how business principles drive innovation in the healthcare industry.

The Washington University School of Engineering & Applied Science has been renamed the McKelvey School of Engineering, Chancellor Mark Wrighton announced Jan. 31.

The name change comes following a donation made by alumnus Jim McKelvey Jr.

Fossil Free WashU rolled out a no-donation pledge designed to curtail donations to the University until it divests from fossil fuel companies last semester.

Philanthropy at Washington University seems to follow a pattern of passive involvement. Generally, this passive philanthropy comprises of buying items to support charitable organizations, such as John’s Donuts or Seoul Taco.

This Tuesday, Jan. 28, Washington University is having another blood drive in cooperation with the American Red Cross and the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center. While it is always important to donate every opportunity we get, this drive is particularly important because the recent weather has caused a shortage of blood donations in our area.

Jack C. Taylor, Washington University alumnus and founder of Enterprise Holdings, has given $25 million to the University to supplement the endowment for the existing Enterprise Holdings Scholars Program. This gift matches Enterprise Holding’s 2001 gift to the University, which created the scholarship program.

On Jan. 12, a devastating earthquake struck off the coast of Haiti, near the capital, Port-au-Prince. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. Its ability to provide for its people has long been a national problem unto itself. Now, a country already effectively devoid of infrastructure is undergoing a humanitarian crisis whose horror is difficult to overstate. Food, water, and basic medical supplies are scarce, travel and communication difficult. Though the rescue efforts continue, the task now at hand is the care of Haiti’s thousands of sick and dying and the maintenance of what social order Haiti still has left.