Chuck Knoll, director of operations at Walter Knoll Florist, graduated from UMSL in August 1985 with a a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Spurred by Knoll’s fond memories of his time at UMSL, Walter Knoll Florist has become a sponsor of the sixth annual UMSL 5K Run/Walk and will provide each participant with a rose at the finish line of the event, held on Oct. 17. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but a rose earned at the finish line might mean a little more.
The sixth annual UMSL 5K Run/Walk will be held Oct. 17, with participants traversing a new course around the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus that begins and ends at Alumni Circle, near the entrance to the recently opened Richter Family Welcome and Alumni Center. As an added bonus, after completing the course, all runners and walkers will be presented with a rose courtesy of Walter Knoll Florist, a new sponsor of the event.
“Sponsoring the race gives us a wonderful way to celebrate all the runners and add a cheerful, personal touch to their big achievement,” said Chuck Knoll, the company’s director of operations. “We wanted to make crossing the finish line feel extra special, and honestly, some days it’s just fun to give away flowers. It will bring so much extra joy to the event and make the entire day unforgettable.”
For Knoll, the opportunity to support the 5K is about more than promoting his family’s longtime St. Louis business. It is also a chance to give back to the university that played an important role in his own personal and professional journey.
Knoll graduated from UMSL’s Ed G. Smith College of Business in August 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He said that UMSL represented “the ideal choice” for him largely because its location and flexibility allowed him to balance his coursework with the demands of working at Walter Knoll Florist.
“Being right here in St. Louis, it fit seamlessly into my busy life, my budget, and it opened up so many wonderful possibilities,” he said.
His UMSL education also proved valuable long after graduation. Knoll said he incorporated lessons from his coursework into the family business, including using some of what he learned to develop employee training templates and relying on the accounting principles he gained in the classroom.
“The practical education I received at UMSL became the bedrock of many of our family business strategies,” he said. “Many lessons in those classrooms translated straight into real-world confidence and success.”
Knoll’s connection to UMSL has remained important to him over the decades. He sees the university as sharing the same hard-working, community-minded spirit that makes St. Louis special, and he values opportunities to support the institution and its students.
So, when UMSL reached out to him about sponsoring the 5K, Knoll didn’t hesitate.
“It was such an exciting way to blend my passion for our family flower shop with UMSL and the broader St. Louis community,” he said. “Supporting an event that brings people together in such a healthy, positive way was a complete no-brainer for me.”
The roses offered to the participants are a fitting expression of what UMSL has meant to Knoll. For a business whose work has centered on bringing flowers to people during life’s milestones, providing a rose to someone who has just completed a 5K is the perfect way to celebrate an accomplishment.
“It gives me a wonderful opportunity to give back to the institution that helped launch my career and champion the next generation of local talent,” Knoll said.
It also gives Knoll another opportunity to reflect on the lasting impact UMSL has had on his life, including the most important connection he made there: meeting his future wife, Tammy.
“Choosing UMSL turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made for my personal and professional growth,” he said.
