In the News – Sept. 24 to Oct. 6, 2025

This regular column links to the most significant stories about Webster University or that quote Webster faculty and staff members.

Community Convening Featured on KMOX

Professional Counseling Professors Stacy Henning and Claire Martin were interviewed live on KMOX about the amount of stress that counselors are facing in the area due to increasing demand. They also discussed the upcoming Community Convening conference, hosted by Webster University. 

Hall Discusses Numerous Political Topics

Bill Hall was interviewed by Newsweek about negative comments President Donald Trump has made about former President Joe Biden after Biden was diagnosed with cancer. 

Hall also was quoted about the latest poll numbers for President Trump, which show that some supporters are saying they are dissatisfied with the administration. Both the Independent and Yahoo! News republished the story. 

Hall was interviewed about new traffic laws that took affect in Maryland. 

Hall was interviewed about the latest polls that show a Democrat is nearly statistically tied with a Republican to be the next governor of Florida. MSN republished the story. 

He also commented on a second poll that showed the governor’s race in New Jersey is statistically tied, and what that could mean for next year’s mid-term elections. 

Hall was interviewed about the potential impacts a government shutdown could have on airline security and flights. 

Hall discussed the impact a government shutdown could have on the population. 

Hall commented on Pete Hegseth’s recent speech to military leadership. 

Hall commented on Proposition 50, an amendment in California that would allow the state to redistrict in favor of Democrats in response to several Republican-controlled states redistricting to give Republicans an advantage in the next national election. 

Hall commented on a recent poll that showed that President Trump’s favorability rating has dropped among low-income voters. 

US News Ranking

The Edwardsville Intelligencer ran a roundup of all the US News & World Report rankings issued in late September. Webster was mentioned for being named a “Best for Veterans” school in the rankings. 

Alumni Features in STL Magazine

Leigh Gerdine alumni Matt Lesch was mentioned in a STL Magazine story about the best performances at this year’s Music at the Intersection festival.  

BioTechnology Grant

The Webster-Kirkwood Times ran a story on Webster’s BioTechnology Grant. https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/webster-university-awarded-grant-to-launch-biotech-program/article_258e624a-f7c8-4f05-99a2-7afb44152e7e.html

Julie Smith Discusses AI Being Used to Spread Fake News

Julie Smith was interviewed on KMOX about real journalists who are being copied by Artificial Intelligence to spread fake news. The clip is at the 8:25 a.m. mark. 

Nappa Featured on KTRS

Associate Professor Carl Nappa, chair of the Audio Aesthetics and Technology program, was interviewed on KTRS about his career and his work at Webster University. The story starts at the 24-minute mark. 

Barry Smith Discusses Car Insurance

Barry Smith was interviewed by WalletHub about how car insurance calculates its rates and whether some of the claims in its ads are true. 

Woolf Featured on KTRS

KTRS ran a story about Professor Linda Woolf being elected as the president of the American Psychological Association (clip not online). 

Webster-Hosted NABJ Camps Featured on KSDK

KSDK ran a story on the National Association of Black Journalists holding its annual series of workshops for high-school students who are interested in learning more about journalism. This year’s workshops were hosted by the School of Communications, and the story featured numerous images from the Sverdrup Complex.