Top Webster Stories for 2012

 Top News Stories for 2012

As Webster’s Department of Public Relations looks back on the past year, we compiled this list of Top Webster Stories of 2012. The stories we selected highlight a few of the many accomplishments and recognitions that reinforce Webster’s mission and core values, and that support our goal of achieving global academic and operational excellence. 

In the News: Chess, SPICE Get Webster National Attention

The bold move by Webster University and champion chess Grandmaster Susan Polgar to move her Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) to Webster gained widespread attention throughout the year. From NPR’s “All Things Considered” show, to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the UK’s Daily Mail, hundreds of media outlets shined the spotlight on Webster around the country. 

In particular, a news story by Associated Press reporter Alan Scher Zagier showed up in news outlets big and small -- more than 240 media — including Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC, Fox, NPR, US News & World Report, Huffington Post, Seattle Times, Washington Post, (New York) Newsday, Miami Herald, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution. 

The article quotes Polgar describing some of the rationale for moving her institute and entire champion chess team to Webster: “St. Louis today is the center of chess in America. It just seemed like a perfect fit.” Likewise, the students on her team — who hail from places as far and wide as Brazil, Germany and Iran — are quoted. 

The AP story also captured Webster University Provost and Senior Vice President Julian Schuster‘s excitement: “He envisions a broader academic focus revolving around chess, espousing a ‘dream of connecting chess as not only a game but as a didactic tool, to apply in a learning setting.’”

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