Stephens College employees honored at Honors Convocation

On April 19 in the Macklanburg Playhouse, some notable Stephens employees received awards as part of the annual Honors Convocation.

Recipients ranged from Equestrian instructors to financial aid counselors.

Equestrian studies instructor, Sara Linde, was given the 2010 Distinguished Teacher of the Year award. This is the highest award given to a faculty member. It’s also based on student vote. Linde is an alumna of Stephens getting her bachelors in 2002 for equestrian business management.

Financial aid counselor, Greg Hutchinson, got the H.E. Wilkerson Award for outstanding service to admission. This award is given to a member of the staff who has specifically worked hard to support admissions at Stephens College. In addition to receiving this award, Hutchinson is to receive a M.Ed. in Counseling next weekend at Stephens.

Assistant professor of theatre got the Century Candle Award for outstanding contributions to student life. He is also an alum of Stephens.

Aside from the Honors Convocations awards Stephens College got news that Media and Film department chair, Kerri Yost, received the Heartland Feature Award at the Kansas City Film Fest. She submitted her documentary “Neither Here Nor There”. A film about Bosnian refugees in the United States.

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Live in the Light-a capstone project helping women

Stephens senior Allison Leonard is trying to help women. Help them mind, body and soul.

Leonard is a fashion communications major at Stephens. Her senior capstone, titled “Live in the Light,” is more about others than herself.

“I decided to use my love of journalism, event planning and fashion.” Leonard said.

Leonard’s project is geared toward helping women who have gone through domestic violence and tough life events. She got the idea from attending  a bible study Ladies Night Out. This bible study is part of a nationwide nonprofit organization, Love Inc. Once she started going, Leonard was hooked. She found inspiration from these women she was meeting.

This group is the inspiration for Live in the Light. The event is about celebrating, pampering and recognizing women who have been through so much. Coordinator of Ladies Night Out, Verna Harris-Leboy said this event will help the women recognize that they are important.

“They are beginning to understand their stories are valuable,” Leboy said. “They are amazing women, life has not been kind to them.”

The women will be getting the works: manicures, hair styling, makeup and fashion styling. It’s all in order to build up the women’s self esteem and to let them know they are important, even though life hasn’t always been easy.

“I feel honored to pamper them for a day,” Leonard said.

After an afternoon of pampering the women will strut their stuff down a runway in a fashion show during which they will share their stories for the first time in public. Leonard said that she was more focused the whole time on the women rather than turning out something for a grade.

“These women are so brave,” Leonard said. “They are such a gift. I feel very blessed to know them.”

Leonard has been interested in helping abused women since she was 15 and wanted to do the “purse project” which gives purses and items to women to help get them back up on their feet. She hopes to one day maybe even start her own women’s shelter.

Live in the Light takes place Sunday, March  13 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Historic Senior Hall on the Stephens campus.

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New hires at Stephens College

Looks like there will be some new faces at Stephens College. According to  a news release issued by Stephens College,  three new people are joining Stephens’ staff.

• Director of Development: Allison Ricks is a Stephens alum and has also served as the director of development for Citizens for Missouri’s Children
• Security Officer: Luke Sherrill is a student at Columbia College studying criminal justice
• Student Services Coordinator: Erin Zevely was previously an admissions counselor at Columbia College.

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Who’s at Stephens this month.

Being that it is February, there are a lot of holidays, events, etc. Stephens College has its fair share of things going on and very notable people visiting its grounds.

Karith Foster, comedian and Stephens alum, will be speaking at Stephens College this month at “Vespers.” Vespers is a newly reinstated tradition that gets all the students together and as a whole they disconnect from technology for the duration of the event. Foster will be leading the event with her presentation “Keys for Being an Extraordinary Leader”.

The other notable visitor to the Stephens Campus is best-selling author Lyah Beth LeFlore. Her visit is part of Stephens’ Women’s History Month celebration. She will hold a public reading and book signing Tuesday, March 2. She will be reading some of her latest novel “Wildflowers.” Her other works include “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life”, “I Got Your Back” and “The Come Up”.

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Upcoming arts events at Stephens College

I am writing a story about a visiting faculty member at Stephens College. While working on that story, I found some events coming up and already happening on the Stephens campus. It could be said that Stephens College is somewhat renowned for their emphasis on the arts, and by somewhat I mean- extremely. So, while you’re waiting for my article about the circus performer at Stephens, check out some other art performances, or check the site here.

Shedding Light is an art exhibit that incorporates the artistic aspects of light in many mediums of art.

Jan. 22 to Feb. 18
10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday and by appointment.

Opening reception: 4 to 6 p.m., Jan. 22

Chords and Threads: Rhythm-Movement-Style is a fashion exhibit that correlates music to fashion and how closely related they are, and how this trend is prevalent through history.

Jan. 23 to May 15

noon to 3 p.m. Saturday through Sunday; and 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday

Opening reception, 12 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s most revered and celebrated comedies.

Feb. 19 to Feb. 21

7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 to 20; 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, Feb. 21

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Academic Symposia at Stephens College

Part of the inauguration festivities for the installation of Dianne Lynch as the 24th president of Stephens College, the school hosted an Academic Symposium. Seniors gathered Friday afternoon in the Kimball Ballroom of Lela Raney Wood Hall to display some of their senior capstone projects, including projects involving legal studies, fashion and design and Internet bullying.

In the hall’s upper mezzanine level was a room showcasing an exhibit titled Good Form: Dress and Decorum for the Woman of Fashion, 1873-1911. George and Karla Hessenbruch donated the clothing pieces on display to the college. The Hessenbruchs are just one of the families that have donated to the costume collection, which contains over 12,000 pieces. There were a plethora of period-perfect shirts and dresses on display. One of the shirts was adorned with beautiful, thin, cylindrical, black beads that made the shirt shimmer. Another dress was made almost entirely of luxurious violet velvet. The floor-length gown was stunning in shape and texture. An accessories cabinet near the entrance of the museum featured gloves, fans and wallets from the Victorian period.

Gunter also explained some interesting facts about the female figure and its transformation in fashion from 1893 to 1904. According to one of the displays, “The female body changed from an hour glass shape to a ‘pouter-pigeon’ silhouette with a full monobosom and s-shape.”

The purpose of the collection is to educate people through such exhibitions and use the pieces for costume history classes, providing students first-hand looks at garments through time, said Karolyn Gunter, a senior majoring in fashion design. Gunter also added that students can look at the clothing pieces and use specific details for garments they are making.

The symposium was informational; students did a lot of research for their projects.

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Citizen Jane Film Festival Weekend

I had never been to a film shown during the Citizen Jane Film Festival until Sunday. I attended the screening of Georgina Lightning’s “Older Than America” at Ragtag Cinema. The film is based on actual incidents when Native American children were forced to attend boarding schools and often physically, sexually and emotionally abused.

Citizen Jane Film Festival, hosted by Stephens College, occurred last weekend. Festival events took place at both the campus at Stephens and Ragtag Cinema. As previously reported by the Missourian, this is the second year Stephens has hosted the festival.

The festival, which celebrates women in film, showcased animation, documentaries and feature-length movies. Most of the screenings were followed by a question and answer session; members of the audience discussed the film with someone involved with the making of the movie, usually the director, producer or writer.

For “Older Than America,” the theater was completely full; several moviegoers sat on the floor or stood to see the movie. I thought it was excellent and highly recommend others see it. During the question and answer portion, I saw that many people were also deeply moved by the film. Lightning discussed making her way into Hollywood and developing the idea for the movie as well as the problems of racism in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Many audience members shared their feelings about the issue and thanked Lightning for coming to show the film.

Leaving the theater, I saw a long line of people waiting for the next screening that nearly flowed onto the sidewalk outside.

It was a great experience, and I was glad to see so many people taking advantage of the film festival.

Submissions for this year’s festival grew by 2 percent, according to the Missourian article.

I hope the festival continues to attract more submissions and attendees.

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