Diversity A Business Imperative • A special publication of the St. Louis American newspaper • PAGE 1
JULY 26 – AUG. 1, 2012 W W W . S T L A M E R I C A N . C O M
INSIDE MSD
NAACP offers MSD Community Benefits Agreement The Metropolitan Sewer District’s $1.6 billion construction and maintenance project will create more than 25,500 jobs over the next four years.
Overall, 820,000 worker hours have gone into the new $670 million Mississippi River Bridge project’s various segments, and 23 percent have gone to minority workers and 4.9 percent to female workers.
From football to animal science to litigation Darryl Chatman’s amazing journey from Jennings to Armstrong Teasdale
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MICHELLE TUCKER
Special to The American
Michelle Tucker speaks up for diversity at Bank of America Michelle Tucker, a manager at Bank of America, is not quiet about being a leader.
Photo by Wiley Price
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CYNTHIA JORDAN
Banking on change to benefit the community Cynthia Jordan, vice president and community affairs manager at Regions Bank and part of the risk management division, says Regions is the most diverse financial institution she has ever been part of.
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JASON QUE PURNELL
Maximizing human resources in public schools Jason Que Purnell, Ph.D., returns as psychologist at Wash. U. Brown School
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Good inclusion, few jobs on bridge New $670M Mississippi River Bridge comes with federal workforce mandates By Rebecca S. Rivas Of The St. Louis American When the new Mississippi River Bridge opens in 2014, it shouldn’t need any significant renovation for another 100 years, designers say. Originally, people thought that the $670 million project – a cable-stayed bridge that will move Interstate 70 off the Poplar Street Bridge – was the chance of a century to get construc-
“There is a whole lot more than just the trade workers that benefit from this project.” – Gregory Horn, MODoT
tion workers back to work. In 2010, the St. Louis Regional
Chamber and Growth Association said the construction would generate 1,500 jobs a year through 2014, according to a St. Louis PostDispatch report. In 2008, then Governor Matt Blunt said, “It will create thousands of jobs initially; tens of thousands more will benefit from the See BRIDGE, page 7
When Khampee Kells faced deportation to her native Thailand after the sudden death of her American husband, Armstrong Teasdale’s Darryl Chatman was there to ease her mind Darryl and give her Chatman legal counsel. As a member of the firm’s litigation team providing free legal help to Kells, Chatman conducted key research and assisted with court briefs. The case “His became part of interest in a national effort learning led aimed at ending Mr. Chatman what was known as the to complete “Widow an underPenalty.” This graduate was a controresearch versial government policy that project that had forced the became the of foundation for deportation immigrant wida project ows and widthat my lab owers for over supported for 70 years. In September over 10 2009, a years.” Missouri federal judge ruled in – Dr. Jim Spain Kells’ favor, striking down the law. In the months that followed, Congress voted to abolish the law and the U.S. government said it would give up its fight to maintain the penalty. KSDK interviewed See CHATMAN, page 11
WU diversity grant funds Meharry students Minority medical students spend summer researching in St. Louis By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American
Meharry medical student Solita Jones talks to a patient in an emergency room at BarnesJewish Hospital. Jones is conducting research in St. Louis this summer as part of collaboration between Washington University School of Medicine and Meharry Medical College.
Nearly a dozen medical students from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee are spending the summer conducting medical research at Washington University in St. Louis. Koong-Nah Chung, Ph.D., associate dean and director of the Office Medical Student Research and Roz Robinson, program coordinator in the office at Washington University School of Medicine received a $30,000 WUSTL diversity and inclusion grant that is being used to pay each student a stipend for their work and provide campus housing while participating in the Washington University School of Medicine Summer Research Program. “It’s two to two-and-a-half months of full-time research,” Chung said. See MEHARRY, page 14 Photo by Wiley Price