Xander Kennedy
Admissions Counselor
Stephens College


The Sports Craze of College Days
Part of the fun of being a college student is rooting for your team. We're not immune to that. Besides being a few blocks away from big-time, NCAA Division I University of Missouri sports, we have our own teams to cheer for. The Stephens Stars participate in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and are members of the American Midwest Conference. We field teams in six sports (basketball, cross county, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball) and our student-athletes are scholars off the court/field/pool and competitors on.

Our spikers and runners have begun our fall sports campaign strongly with the volleyball team picking up victories over Harris-Stowe and Cottey College and our cross country team placing fifth at the Maryville Cross Country Classic. Our other sports are also building on success. Last year our swimming team placed in the Top 20 at the NAIA nationals, our softball team sent four players to compete with a U.S. team in Europe, and 11 of our basketball players were named to the Academic All-Conference team.

If you have some athletic prowess and are considering staying involved into college, maybe you could be our next Star athlete. To get the recruiting ball rolling, fill out our athletic questionnaire. Scholarships are available, and we always have fun as we pursue victory.


Activities for Prospective Students
We encourage campus visits for all students as this is the best way to decide if an institution is right for you. You and your family can come to Stephens any weekday of the year and we will engage you in as minimal or as thorough an experience as you desire. These visits usually include a tour of campus, and meetings with your admissions counselor and a financial aid advisor. Additionally, they often include meeting with a professor, sitting in on a class, eating a meal in the cafeteria with a student ambassador, and even staying overnight with a current student.

Also, we have a Saturday Visit day coming up on Oct. 17. This event will be particularly exciting for our potential equestrian majors as we have Olympic gold medalist Melanie Smith-Taylor presiding over a clinic open to prospective students. Read more event info. The day also happens to be during Stephens' Citizen Jane Film Festival (Oct. 16-18), an annual event created to support and celebrate some of the most daring, accomplished and interesting work by women filmmakers. The most recent Celluloid Ceiling Report reported that women accounted for only 9 percent of directors in 2008, a percentage that hasn’t changed in 10 years. For those of you who are aspiring filmmakers, Stephens offers a producing Digital Filmmaking program.

Our first Friday-Saturday Open House will be Oct. 30-31. Yes, it happens to be on Halloween, so we're encouraging everyone in attendance to dress up on Saturday (our theme is historic/significant women). On Friday, our new president Dr. Dianne Lynch will be inaugurated as the 24th president of the College. You're invited to attend special symposia, which showcase our academic programs, among other activities. Get to know Dr. Lynch by reading her blog "Amazing Women."

For a complete list of campus visit options, go to our 2009-2010 Campus Visit Schedule. You are also welcome to schedule an individual campus visit Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sign up online or call the Office of Admissions at (800) 876-7207.


Highlighted Major: Theatrical Costume Design
There's no denying that two of our real strengths are fashion and theatre. Well, there happens to be a major that sits right at the intersection of those two departments: Theatrical Costume Design. This is a three-year, two-summer prestigious B.F.A. that grants students hands-on experience from day one. They get to help create costumes for three theatres' worth of productions (at our on-campus Macklanburg Playhouse and student-run Warehouse Theatre, as well as Okoboji Summer Theatre in Spirit Lake, Iowa).

Just take a stroll through our massive costume collection to see (and feel, and smell, and …) the creativity and ingenuity of our students. Whether it's a cabaret ensemble, a straight jacket, or a bright and powerful Titania suit, costume designers are constantly called upon to imagine and construct the clothing that completes a character. Any performer will tell you that she can't fully get into a role until she is wearing it. Can you design it?


Admissions Counselors' Favorites
We monthly divulge a new and very random bit of information about our preferences. And since we began this newsletter with some poetry fun, we'll end that way too. Meet your admissions counselor here.

What’s your favorite poem? (You could really impress us by memorizing one of these before a campus visit.)

Hannah: "Evening Song" by Sidney Lanier
Heather: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
Maya: "In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver
Chris: Psalm 23
Sarah: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
Xander: "The Fairy Reel" by Neil Gaiman
David: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
Enjoli: "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou


Don't Delay ... Apply Today!
Seniors and Transfer Students: now would be a perfect time to apply to Stephens—it's free if you apply online, not to mention the process is quick and easy. Wouldn't it be a relief to have one other option when it comes time to really make that all-important college decision?

Stephens College
Office of Admissions, Campus Box 2121, Columbia, MO 65215
Phone: (800) 876-7207 or (573) 876-7207
Fax: (573) 876-7237
Email: apply@stephens.edu
Web: www.stephens.edu