Campus Announcements

Reminder: Distinguished Advising Award
Students: You should have received a nomination form for the newly instated Distinguished Advising Award.  If you think that your advisor may deserve to be named the Distinguished Advisor for 2010-11, then please take a moment to fill out the form and email it to Ann Taliaferro. If you have any questions, please contact Courtney Cothren.

Thank you!
The Advising Committee


Kudos to Robert Friedman
Congratulations are in order for Robert Friedman who has been teaching in the Art program since January of 1991! Thank you for all that you have done over the last 20 years to make this a better place to learn and work.

—The School of Design and Fashion


Dr. Isaac Crosby: A Heretic at Stephens College
(Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Alan Havig in the Stephens College Archives. It is part of the Dudley Hall display, which also includes related historical items.)

Heretic: one “who professes a heresy.”  Heresy: “a religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of a church; . . . [more broadly] any opinion (in philosophy, politics, etc.) opposed to official or established views or doctrines.”  (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1984, p. 656)

Stephens College, along with most of white America, was not prepared for the civil rights movement, whose key initial goal was racially-integrated education.

Dr. Isaac Crosby, a professor in the Religion and Philosophy department from January 1972, to January 1983, and the teacher of the Searcy Hall House Plan’s philosophy course, helped to create a commitment at Stephens to racial justice. Born in Bay Springs, Mississippi in 1936, Ike Crosby grew up in a white-controlled South which still irrationally defended its system of racial exclusion required by law, and its official toleration of – and in some localities instigation of – racial violence. A deeply-committed Christian who earned several degrees, including the Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Crosby did not hesitate to criticize his own Presbyterian Church when it failed to live up to its own most exalted beliefs. Before coming to Stephens, Dr. Crosby served as an assistant chaplain at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and as minister at Faith Presbyterian Church in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, among other positions.

In a 1982 article published in the “Presbyterian Survey,” Dr. Crosby reflected on the meaning of verses 1-2, chapter 12, of the Book of Romans:

it should be clear from this Scripture that Christianity is not synonymous with the American way of life . . . . to be a Christian is not the same as being a well-adjusted person wearing a big smile. In fact, one may conclude from this Scripture that the Christian who avoids conformity is more likely to be a maladjusted person, one who never adjusts to the world or to a church which patterns its life on models of discrimination and injustice.

These were the words of a self-described heretic who expected change from his employer as well as from his religious denomination. Along with other Stephens’ faculty, students, and administrators, most of whom were not African American, Dr. Crosby insisted that excellence in higher education meant more than strong departments, a well-trained faculty, and an attractive, functional campus. In the late 20th century, he believed, a quality Stephens College education meant more than being a nationally-prominent women’s college that was sensitive to gender issues. Ike Crosby continually reminded us that Stephens would not reach its full potential as a learning community until it passionately embraced racial justice, both in its own institutional life and in the wider society, as a desirable and attainable goal.  

Late in 1980, as his career at this college and in national academic and religious circles flourished, doctors informed Dr. Crosby that he had developed bone cancer. During the months which followed he showed his family, professional colleagues and students no less than they expected from him: courage, an amazing love for those around him, and a buoyant optimism rooted in faith. Isaac Crosby died on Jan. 23, 1983. This Stephens College man poured purpose and meaning into every moment of his time at this institution. Dr. Crosby modeled the life worth living, a priceless gift that endures.

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Bike Pro Friday
The PedNet Coalition will host “Bike Pro Friday” on Feb. 11 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at Smithton Middle School. "BikePro" is bicycle proficiency program available for children age 10-14. Lessons cover balance and control, scanning and signaling, road positioning and turning, hazard avoidance and emergency stopping, and rules of the road. The cost is $75. Contact Gina Overshiner at (573) 303-1033 or [email protected].