Features

Terrell Carter has a resume that demands a double take: Police officer, author, artist, college professor and leader of a non-profit organization. […]

Students, faculty and staff walk past the sculpture in front of C Tower every day, but few know much about it.  “It looks like a woman with no head,” said general studies student Patrick Burley, 20. “I would name it ‘Headless Woman.’”  Amber Harris, a 45-year-old nursing student, has mixed feelings about the sculpture.  “To me, it’s a symbol of how men view women,” she said, “No head, just her body. She is missing her best feature: her mind.” […]

Danny Lawrence walked across the concrete deck of the Forest Park pool, climbed down the ladder on the 12-foot end and began to get acclimated for swimming class.  “Oooh, the water’s cold today,” he said. […]

Two new gardens are helping to beautify Forest Park’s urban campus.  Faculty and staff members have planted a butterfly garden in front of A Tower, and this is the second summer that produce is being grown in the cafeteria courtyard.  The 20-by-18-foot butterfly garden is a part of the Milkweed for Monarchs Initiative, which is designed to boost declining monarch butterfly populations. […]

Joe Wilson’s trademark line is “no excuses,” a term plastered around his office and repeated in his syllabus. The Forest Park chemistry associate professor was born legally blind, but that didn’t keep him from earning a doctorate degree, becoming an admired teacher and winning a college Innovation of the Year Award in 2014. […]

Katie Rhoades was a 19-year-old stripper in Portland, Ore., when she met a woman who introduced her to a pimp. Three days later, they were on their way to San Francisco. “We were going there for the purpose of prostitution,” said Rhoades, now 34 and living in St. Louis. […]

The sculpture of a man’s head in Forest Park’s Annual Student Exhibition seems to scream with frustration. The piece, called “Emancipation,” won second place in fine arts. It reflects artist Joseph Hellbergh’s belief that people often make life more complicated than necessary. […]

Anatomy and physiology courses can be difficult, particularly if students don’t have access to models of the human body, bones, muscles, organs, glands and blood vessels. That’s not a problem at Forest Park. […]

Robert Babione’s age is often the first thing people notice at Forest Park. “I’m asked by the younger kids if I’m a professor a lot,” said the 76-year-old culinary arts major. “I find it OK, though. It’s refreshing.” Babione is one of many “older” students at Forest Park. Some have returned to college to improve their career prospects. Others are looking to stay busy after retirement. […]

Forest Park student Sejla Grahovic, a Bosnian refuge who has overcome many obstacles, wants to help others better appreciate their own lives. About a year ago, she self-published an autobiography called “While You Played, I Ran.” It’s meant to encourage unhappy teenagers in particular. […]