Stephens College

Stephens College is a private women's college in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is the second-oldest women's educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833, as the Columbia Female Academy.

In 1856, David H. Hickman helped secure the college's charter under the name The Columbia Female Baptist Academy. From 1937 to 1943, its Drama Department became renowned under its chairman and teacher, the actress Maude Adams, James M. Barrie's first American Peter Pan. The Warehouse Theater is a student-run performance venue on campus, while the major performance venue for the college is The Playhouse. The campus includes a National Historic District: Stephens College South Campus Historic District.

The college enrolled 593 students in fall 2021.

History

Stephens College was established in 1833 as the Columbia Female Academy. In 1855 the school closed and in 1856 reopened as the Columbia Female Baptist Academy. The college changed its name to its current namesake in 1870, in honor of a $20,000 endowment by James L. Stephens.

In 1933, the school officially began using 1833 as its opening date. Prior to this time the school advertised itself as being organized in 1856.

From 1921-1929, Jessie Burrall was employed as head of religious studies, and created a popular bible studies class. These mandatory classes became Vespers, a school tradition that persisted until the 1980s. This was briefly revitalized in the 2010s as Stephens Unplugged.

In the 1930s, Frances Rummell was a French instructor at the school. In 1936, H. Bentley Glass joined the science faculty.

During World War II, the Pierce Pennant Motor Hotel was used by the aviation program for training and housing. The historic Columbia Municipal Airport was also home to the program.

Lela Raney Wood Hall was built in 1938. It was named after the wife of president James Wood. Originally purposed as a dormitory, over the years it has also served as an academic and administrative building. In 1995, the hall closed due to disrepair. In 2001, a fire caused additional damage. In 2002, Gretchen Bush Kimball (class of 1957) donated 2.5 million dollars for repairs, and the Kimball Ballroom was named in her honor. In addition to the ballroom serving as the main event space on campus, the ‘LRW’ is utilized as the administrative building on campus.

The assembly hall was opened in 1948. Jimmy Carter visited the campus and spoke at the auditorium in 1976. On November 15, 1996, Bob Dylan performed at the Stephens Auditorium. Through the 2000s, the building was underutilized and fell into disrepair. It was demolished in 2013 along with Hillcrest Hall, a dormitory, and the land was sold with plans for a scholarship-funded boarding school. Construction has yet to begin on the Hagan Scholarship Academy.

The annual Collections fashion show begun in 1944. In 1945, Muriel King was hired as director of the Fine and Applied Fashion Department.

The theater program begun its summer season in 1936. The first season at the Okoboji Summer Theatre in Iowa opened in 1958. Stephens has continued to produce plays here in the summer season, serving as an intensive program for students in the conservatory.

Stephens Life was formed as the school newspaper in 1929 by Louise Drake. The Stephens Standard was renamed to The PORTFOLIO in 1962. This would become the Harbinger.

The equestrian program begun in 1926. Alongside this, the Prince of Wales riding club was also chartered in 1926. Originally, a student had to have fallen off a horse in order to join the club.

Sororities have been a part of the college since the early 1900s. The Eta chapter of Beta Sigma Omicron was on campus from 1902-1925.

Academics

The college follows a liberal arts curriculum and prior to 2024 had three schools: School of Health Sciences, Conservatory for the Performing Arts, and School of Integrative Studies. The school is in the process of transitioning to two schools: The Women’s College (which comprises the School of Health Sciences and the School of Integrative Studies) and the all-gender Conservatory for the Performing Arts.

In addition to undergraduate programs, Stephens offers some graduate degrees: Master of Education in Counseling (with an emphasis in school counseling or clinical mental health counseling), Master of Fine Arts in Television and Screenwriting, and Master in Physician Assistant Studies.

Student outcomes

According to College Scorecard, the graduation rate for Stephen’s college is 56%. For transfer students the graduation rate is 59%.

The median income in 2020 and 2021 for graduates who matriculated in 2010 and 2011 was $43,071, with 65% of graduates making more than high school graduates. According to Payscale, graduates make $55,700 in early career and $100,900 in mid-career. The Center on Education and the Workforce estimated that the return on investment with a bachelors at Stephens is $26,000 10 years after graduation, this accelerates to $661,000 40 years after graduation.

Campus life

There are a few academic honor societies on campus: Mortar Board (inactive), Psi Chi, Alpha Lambda Delta (inactive), Sigma Tau Delta, Tri-Beta, Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Alpha Delta (inactive), and Sigma Eta Rho. Although Stephens College is no longer a two-year institution, it is the location of the Alpha chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-Year College.

Stephens College was one of the few women’s colleges to have nationally recognized sororities. As of 2024, Kappa Delta is inactive on campus. Sigma Sigma Sigma has been inactive since 2020.

The student magazine, ''Stephens Life'', is online with a magazine printed once a semester. The college's literary magazine, ''Harbinger'', is released each spring.

Stephens opened pet-friendly residence halls in 2004. The college also allows students to foster shelter animals in exchange for scholarships.

The Warehouse Theatre is a student-run playhouse on campus which stages an average of four different productions per academic season.

Ten Ideals

Every year 10 graduating students are secretly selected to be the “Ten Ideals”. Each student represents one of the ideals. Throughout the year the ten observe and honor students and faculty they deem as upholding the ideals. The identities of the ten are revealed at Honors Convocation.

''The Ten Ideals are:''

Respect for our own dignity and the dignity of others, embodied in a sense of social justice

Courage and persistence

Independence, autonomy and self-sufficiency

Support for others through the willingness to take and give criticism, acceptance and love

Sensitivity to the uniqueness and fragility of the natural world of which we are part

Responsibility for the consequences of our choices

Belief in our changing selves and in our right to change

Creativity in the spiritual and aesthetic dimensions of life

Intelligence that is informed and cultivated, critical yet tolerant

Leadership which empowers others

Citizen Jane Film Festival

The Citizen Jane Film Festival was an annual film festival established at Stephens College. The festival was first held October 17–19, 2008. Films were chosen that showcased women behind and in front of the camera. Though the festival has been discontinued, Citizen Jane continues in the form of a lecture series hosted by the Stephens College digital filmmaking program.

Athletics

The Stephens athletic teams are called the Stars. The college is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the American Midwest Conference (AMC) since the 2008–09 academic year. The Stars previously competed as an NAIA Independent from 2004–05 to 2007–08. Prior joining the NAIA, Stephens was also a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA): in the Division III ranks from 1994–95 (when the school re-instated back its athletics program) to 2003–04; and in the Division II ranks from about 1982–83 to 1986–87, before transitioning to club status for two seasons until discontinuing the athletics program after the 1988–89 school year.

Stephens competes in four intercollegiate varsity sports: basketball, soccer, softball and volleyball. Former sports included cross country. Club sports include competitive dance and esports, which is the first varsity esports team at an all-women's college.

People

The Stephens College Alumnae Association has more than 20,000 members internationally. Alumnae are found in every state.

Notable alumnae

* Patricia Barry, stage, film, and television actress (1921–2016)
* Stephanie Beatriz, actress
* Paddy Bowden, psychotherapist (d. 2020), wife of Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson
* Nancy Elizabeth Brown, Vice Admiral, United States Navy
* Shirley Clarke, filmmaker (1919–1997)
* Nancy Cozean, former journalist and politician
*Joan Crawford, actress (did not complete first year)
* Frances Crowe, peace activist
* Leslie Easterbrook, actress; best known for her role as Debbie Callahan in the '' Police Academy'' series
* Shirley Adele Field, Oregon legislator and judge
* Susan Flannery, soap actress on CBS '' The Bold & the Beautiful'', retired in 2012 after 25 years
* Karith Foster, stand-up comedian and radio personality
* Wally Funk, aviator and astronaut
* Tammy Grimes, actress and singer
* Anne Gwynne, actress
* Corky Hale, jazz musician
* Joan Robinson Hill, equestrienne and socialite
* Eva Johnston, classical scholar; first American woman to receive a doctoral degree from the University of Königsberg; second female professor and first Dean of Women at the University of Missouri
* Jeane Kirkpatrick, first female U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
* Ashley Litton, former Miss Missouri USA
* Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, businesswoman and former U.S. Ambassador to Finland
* Ginny McSwain, casting director and voice director
* Marjie Millar, actress
* Leslie Adrienne Miller, poet
* Elizabeth Mitchell, actress
* Martha Beall Mitchell, wife of former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell
* Jean Muir, actress, first performer added to the Hollywood Blacklist
* Alanna Nash, journalist
* Carrie Nye, actress
* Lyndsey Olson, Saint Paul City Attorney
* Annie Potts, television and film actress
* Emily J. Reynolds, Secretary of the U.S. Senate
* Virginia Shehee, first woman to serve in the Louisiana State Senate
* Sarah Stalker, politician
* Julie Suk, poet
* Jennifer Tilly, actress
* Virginia Welles, actress
* Dawn Wells, actress
* Glad Robinson Youse, composer; namesake of college's Glad Robinson Youse Scholarship
* Paula Zahn, journalist
* Paula Zima, artist

Presidents of the college

Historic buildings

Firestone Baars Chapel

The Firestone Baars Chapel was designed by world-famous Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, who also designed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The chapel symbolizes commitment to individual spiritual development and worship. The chapel is used for meditation, religious services, vespers, weddings, memorials and campus programs.

Historic Senior Hall

Historic Senior Hall dates back to 1841, when Oliver Parker bought the tract of land on which the college was first located. In 1857, the Columbia Baptist Female College, which later became Stephens College, acquired the building. Until 1918, Historic Senior Hall was the only dormitory at the college. It was the tradition for the President of the Civic Association (now the Student Government Association) to occupy the first floor room just north of the Waugh Street entrance. Many generations of students feel this building is their tie to the past. A complete restoration of Historic Senior Hall began in the spring of 1987, and the building was rededicated in the spring of 1990. Senior Hall was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

References

Further reading

*
* Crighton, John "The Columbia Female Academy: A Pioneer in Education for Women." ''Missouri Historical Review'' 64 (January 1970): 177–196
online

External links

Official websiteOfficial athletics website

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1833 establishments in Missouri
Universities and colleges established in 1833
Universities and colleges in Columbia, Missouri
Private universities and colleges in Missouri
Liberal arts colleges in Missouri
Women's universities and colleges in the United States
Performing arts in Columbia, Missouri