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The St. Louis Regional Chamber honored Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Eugene B. Redmond Learning Center Thursday night with its inaugural Arcus People’s Choice Award. 

The Center won as a result of receiving a majority of the popular vote from individuals across the region. The Arcus People’s Choice Award, sponsored by RubinBrown LLP, was one of 11 honors that the Chamber bestowed on the region’s top leaders and companies for helping make St. Louis a more attractive place to live, work and invest.

The Center is named in honor of Redmond, SIUE emeritus professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, author, editor and Poet Laureate of East St. Louis. The Center fosters creativity, encourages scholarship, promotes diversity and exposes the region to multicultural poetry and the Black Arts Movement. It has attracted national supporters including Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Toni Morrison and Tavis Smiley.

“SIUE’s Library and Information Services is extremely pleased to be recognized as the Arcus People’s Choice Award for the Eugene B. Redmond Learning Center’s impact on the region,” said Regina McBride, PhD, dean of Library and Information Services. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase and highlight the tremendous informational resources that we provide to the community on behalf of the University. 

“That we were able to share this recognition with our students last evening made the event even more memorable,” McBride continued. “Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts by voting for us. We are truly grateful for the support.” 

The Academy Awards-style program showcased 64 finalists out of hundreds of nominees in 10 categories. SIUE had three units chosen as nominees in the following categories: the SIUE East St. Louis Center (ESLC) for educational attainment; the SIUE Eugene B. Redmond Learning Center for achievement in inclusion and talent attraction; and the SIUE Metro East Start-Up Challenge for entrepreneurship and innovation.

A panel of business scholars and executives selected award winners based on categories representing the Chamber’s One Plan for regional prosperity. The categories honor leadership in industry clusters that are critical to creating jobs today as well as community priorities that will secure an even brighter future.

Other Arcus Award winners were Regions Bank for the Ameren Corporate Citizenship Award, IDEA Labs for the BMO Harris Bank St. Louis Spirit Award, Bio Research and Development Growth (BRDG) Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center for achievement in biosciences, Square, Inc. for achievement in financial services, MedAware Solutions, Inc. for achievement in health, America’s Central Port District for achievement in logistics, Better Together St. Louis for achievement in public policy, Jennings School District for Achievement in educational attainment, International Institute of St. Louis for achievement in inclusion and talent attraction and Natalie’s Cakes and More for achievement in entrepreneurship and innovation.

About the St. Louis Regional Chamber

The St. Louis Regional Chamber is a broad community of leaders united for economic prosperity throughout the entire St. Louis bi-state region. Our aspiration is for St. Louis to be one of the Top 10 U.S. regions in prosperity. Our one purpose is to inspire a greater St. Louis. Together, we will make St. Louis a more attractive place for people to live, work and invest. We will win on today’s regional strengths in focused economic clusters. We will champion a better tomorrow through greater educational attainment, economic inclusion, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of more than 14,000.

Photo Courtesy by Katherine Bish Photography:

L-R: Eugene B. Redmond, PhD, SIUE emeritus professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, author, editor and Poet Laureate of East St. Louis, receives the Arcus People’s Choice Award from John Herber, Jr., managing partner at RubinBrown LLP.