Amazing Women

A star is born (OK, lots of stars....)

Chrisena Ricci, center, sings accompanied by, from left, Jaimie Keith, Denise Saylor, Sarah G. Vincent and Sydney Turner during rehearsal Thursday for the Stephens College Summer Theatre Institute musical revue. Photo by Irene Rojas, The Missourian

Our expectations are shaped by our experiences.

For hundreds of you who arrived at the Playhouse Theatre last night for Stephens' annual Summer Theatre Institute's Musical Revue, the show was exactly what you knew it would be:

Entertaining.

Energetic.

Extraordinary.

That's just how we do it at Stephens (and just to be clear, that would be the royal we; truth is, I can't even begin to imagine how they do it, but I'm more than happy to be associated with it nonetheless...).

But for somebody new to the Playhouse, and the STI, it was more than that. 

It was an affirmation of the possible:  Put 33 young women together for six weeks; expect that they will work 12 hours a day in the merciless heat; demand that they explore and extend their talents and skills; infuse in them the confidence of accomplishment; and set them loose on a stage in front of a full house.  And what do you get?

You get magic.

You get 90 minutes of pure, exuberant energy and talent.

You get professionalism.

And you get proof positive of the powerful connectedness among women, a public expression of the shared memories from which lifetime friendships are forged.

In short, you get Stephens.

My personal thanks and congratulations go out to those 29 women who reminded us last night of what star quality really means -- for a Stephens woman:

Rhea Amos
Melissa Boatright
Brittany Braswell
Stephanie Chapman
Contessa Deffenderfer
Miriam Gossett
Erin Hanson
Nicole Hietter
KT Hill
Katie Huffman
Ashlee James
Rachel Joslin
Jaimie Keith
Laura Kline
Cat Lentz
Lauren Maslanik
Jenny Massey-Brown
Kathryn McKellar
Elaina O'Neal
Chrisena Ricci
Denise Saylor
Kylie Stack
Sascha Streckel
Sydney Turner
Cait-Elise Vandiver
Sarah Vincent
Gillian West
Michelle Wilke
Caitlin Zimmer

And to the production team:
Brandy Bell (stage manager/lighting design)
Emily Swenson (lighting design)
Lia Neitzert (sound design)
Amanda Carroll (set/prop production)

And my gratitude and deep respect to those faculty and staff, who inspire, challenge, educate, and encourage each and every one of our Stephens stars:

Dan Schultz (artistic director)
Erik Gratton (associate director)
Rob Doyen (musical theatre director)
Millie Garvey (musical choreographer)
Heather Hillhouse-Deans (technical director)
P.J. Davis (costume designer)
Cheryl Nichols (musical coordinator)
Patti Doyle (costuming instructor)
Marie Brannigan Robertson (dance instructor)
Maggie Dethrow (dance instructor)
Ruth Ann Burke (business instructor)
Kat Thomas (residence director)
Kathy Vogt (administrative support)
Rusty Elder (percussion)

Next time, I'll know what to expect from all of these amazing and dedicated people.

I'll expect magic.

And now I know that they'll deliver it.

Baby does a road trip....

Meet Baby.

Baby the Bassett Hound.

Baby has been looking forward to our big move for the past six weeks (her attention span is actually about 40 seconds, but we remind her a lot).

She had her bags packed, all ready to hop on a flight to St. Louis to join her family in our new life in Columbia. (OK, so her big brother was going to drive her to the airport, give her a generous dose of PetCalm, load her into a crate, and turn her over to the doglovers at USAir....and she's not much of a hopper....but you get the idea.)

She and her sister, Addy -- a dog we bought on the Internet who turned out to be more like a weasle-canine cross than the schnoodle we paid for -- a story for another blog post -- were going to spend four or five hours in the air and voila! home sweet home in beautiful Missouri. 

But here's the catch:

It's hot in Missouri. (I know, I know, I said I wouldn't write about how hot it is in Missouri...but this isn't directly about the temperature; it's about what that temperature means to Baby.  Baby the Bassett Hound.)

As it turns out, USAir - and every other airline you can name -- won't fly an animal in its cargo hold when it's hotter than 85 degrees at the point of departure or destination.  Turns out that it's darned toasty in those cargo holds when the plane sits on the tarmac -- which planes almost inevitably do. Turns out animals began to cook just a little bit -- and then, maybe a lot -- when it gets above 85 degrees.

That means Baby and Addy aren't about to become frequent fliers after all.

It means we're renting a car, we're loading up on what may be the largest purchase in recent history of PetCalm, and we're hitting the highway -- two cars, two parents, two dogs, six suitcases, and an 11-year-old daughter. 

It means Baby is about to do a road trip.  Her first -- and with any luck at all, her last.

Now if I can just convince her to to try some Dramamine....

They're here!

Today's the day.

This morning, more than 100 of our incoming first-year students and their families arrived on campus for our first Orientation session of the year.

I was so excited to see them strolling across campus, headed toward the auditorium, launching the greatest adventure of their lives. (I am probably the only college administrator in the world who hates the summer: Things are just not as much fun when the students aren't around....)

Today was also my first opportunity to welcome them to Stephens College, to express to them how excited we all are that they are joining the Stephens community, and to remind them that we are here to ensure that their college experience is the most rewarding, exciting, challenging and fulfilling that it possibly could be.

I also told them I keep chocolate in my office.

And OK, I know that's the part they'll remember.  But I did say we would do *everything* we could to make their Stephens experience wonderful.

And there's nothing wrong with including a little chocolate in that promise.

"....I'm not sure you ever get used to the weather, but for Stephens, it's worth it...."

This just in from Frances Dare, '82 (in response to the "final word... on hot" posting): she's remembering her own arrival in a very interesting, very welcoming, and very HOT Columbia (and just fyi, I am assuming that this doesn't count as yet another blog by me about weather since it's from Frances):

It's ok to whine. Hot is hot. When I moved to Columbia in August, 1978 they were setting heat and humidity records. There I was, the wide-eyed freshman from northern New Mexico. . . I'm talking living at 7000 feet elevation. Clear skies. Cool breezes. Hot was 82 degrees. Who knew the Farenheit thermometer went above 100 degrees? Then, we had our first tornado practice drill (put on shoes, take a flashlight and radio to the basement). Tornado? What's a tornado? I knew I had moved to another planet. I'm not sure you ever get used to the weather, but for Stephens it's worth it. And, Octobers in Missouri are gorgeous. Welcome to Columbia!

It's a conversation....as in, I talk. And then you talk. And then I talk. And then you talk.....

So here's the thing:

This is a conversation.

A back-and-forth.

A give-and-take.

If this works -- and I have lots of experience that suggests that it might -- the Amazing Women blog will become a place you turn to for information, insight, and yes, on a good day, a laugh or two.

It will keep you in the Stephens loop in a way that also will inspire and entertain you.

And it will be a place you can share your ideas and your feedback.

Lots of you are already doing that.  (If you look at the bottom of each post, you'll see a little notation that indicates how many comments there have been: I wish that notation were bigger, but I'll try to point to it on occasion, just to be sure everybody knows it's there...)

Those are the this-and-thats that will make Amazing Women OUR  conversation.

Yours and mine.

I'll do my part.  Once I settle in (next week!), I'll write to the blog just about every day.  So there will be something new every time you check (I didn't say it would all be brilliant. Just new.  I do my best.)

That means you might want to bookmark it and check in once in awhile.

And please: maybe you might want to even consider contributing to it (just fill in the 'comment' box and I'll hit the 'publish' button, and voila! conversation!).

Stephens is a community.  This is its (newest) blog. 

That means we all own it.

Together.

The final word....on hot.

It's not usually this hot here in mid-June.

That's the first thing my friendly USAir flight attendant (and that is not an oxymoron, no matter what you say) told me this afternoon when I got off the plane from New York and got smacked by the blast furnace.

So I looked it up.

Sure enough, the RSS Weather Feed reports that the average temps for Columbia in June run from a chizzly 61.8F to a balmy 83.6F.

What nobody mentioned is that those aren't your average averages.  I think they basically just added up the high and the low, which gives us for today a whopping 145.4F...and sometime next February we'll get the other end of that spectrum, somewhere around -21.8F.

That counts as an average....right?

I know, I know: nobody likes a whiner.  And there's no quicker way to identify yourself as an outsider, a newbie, an out-of-towner (and a somewhat boring one at that) than to fixate on the weather.  (Do I think you don't know that it's boiling-caldron hot around here?  No, I do not think you do not know.)

So, in the name of nurturing whatever nascent readership this little blog may be starting to develop, I will make you a promise:  this will be my very very last posting about the weather (unless, of course, it blizzards or tornadoes, both of which fall firmly under the heading of Acts of God (see Day #2) and are exempt from such promises).

And you will be particularly delighted to know that the final word about summer weather in Columbia, Missouri comes not from me - the exasperating newbie who can't seem to just get over it -- but from someone who knows far better than I do the joys and sorrows of said climate:

Sandie Heckman, a supervisor in our facilities department, read my "Ten Things" list last week and came up with one of her own -- ALL about the heat in Columbia.  With her permission, and with my enthusiastic endorsement (this is, after all, supposed to be a conversation, not a soliloquy), Sandie gets the last "Amazing Women" word on hot:

10 statements about the heat in Columbia

1.   It’s hot!
2.   Feels like we are breathing in cotton balls!
3.   Takes your breath away
4.   Swampy
5.   Muggy
6.   Intense
7.   Wait For July & August; then it gets really hot!
8.   Facilities employees look like they are melting on the sidewalk!
9.   Hurry to President Lynch’s chocolate bowl – it’s melting too!*
10.  Aren’t you glad you are home in the heat, here in Columbia!

Well, aren't you?

Of course you are.

*There really IS a great big bowl full of chocolate up in the President's office.  It's one of my less- subtle presidential acts so far.  In fact, it's a blatant bribe, a cheap but effective enticement to get you to stop up to the third floor and say hello (or really, if you're the shy type, you don't even have to say hello....and you can still have the chocolate.  That's what it's there for.)

Cool, huh?

(OK, OK, no pun intended.....)

Ten things I've learned about Columbia in the past 10 days....

1.  It's hot here.  You don't notice it because you're comparing it to how it's going to be in July.  That doesn't help.  Believe me.

2.  There are roads in Columbia that turn into other roads.  Without warning. For those of us who forgot to bring along our GPS systems, this seems like some kind of inside joke.  

3.  Bankers are much more fun in Columbia than anywhere else in the country.  They serve as community connections.  They bring people together who care deeply about local issues -- like education.  They relish French cuisine and thoughtful discussion, and they have an abiding commitment to all-things-Columbia.  They are the most welcoming people you could ever imagine.

4.  It's hot here.  See #1.

5.  The Rotary Clubs in Columbia are vibrant, committed, energetic groups of deeply engaged citizens who give back, step up, and have fun in the process.  Sarah Hill's stories of the Honor Flights for WWII veterans, which she presented to the Rotary early Thursday morning, made me weep (my dad's a WWII vet) -- and contribute.  (You, too?)

6.  This is a journalism town -- and as a journalist, that's about the highest praise I can think of.  You're accustomed to the quality of news that surrounds you: it's a part of the cultural landscape.  But a news junkie like me -- straight out of a town with a dying daily newspaper -- thinks she's hit the journalism jackpot:  Edgy reporters like Janese Heavin at the Daily Tribune (she always asks the next question -- both a craft and an art) and up-and-coming students like Evan Bush at the Missourian ensure that Columbia has the news and information it needs to remain a vibrant, citizen-driven community. 

7.  You have lots of Walmarts (and I now understand why).  Bottom line, though, is that I keep my office stocked in chocolate -- it's one of the things I do to convince people across campus that they should stop up to the president's office and say hello -- and nobody sells Snickers and Rollos cheaper than Walmart.  Trust me on that one, too.  It's something I know a lot about.

8.  There are more doctors here than a town this size has any right to expect.  I'm of strong Midwestern stock and healthy as a horse (and I say that knowing that the faculty and staff at the stables are paying attention).  Even so, excellent health care just down the street?  That's a good thing.

9. Stephens College is a vital member of the Columbia community, and an institution unlike any other.  Its neighbors know that.  Its employees know that.  Its alumni know that.  And perhaps most important, its students know that.  Every day since my arrival on campus, that profound fact of Stephens life has been clear.  Today, I got a letter written last spring by one of our students, describing her feelings about the college: "Stephens is a place where dreams come true.  Stephens has awakened in me dreams that I didn't know I had and made them a reality....We're small in numbers but we have an enormous unconquerable spirit."  I am framing that letter for my office: it is the essence of our mission, our vision, and our commitment.

10.  I'm home.

And then....the lights went out....

So this blog isn't supposed to be about ME.  It's about US.  About Stephens.  About all of the amazing and extraordinary people who make Stephens the special and unique place that it is.

But I have to tell you about at least a few of the memories I'm making every day as I settle into my new role.

Last night is a good example.

Last night, I worked until about 11 (OK, so new presidents work long hours....hey, for that matter, old presidents work long hours....), and I came out of my office and locked the door, and walked around the corner to the elevator.

I pushed the button.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  (That elevator in LRW Hall has to be the s-l-o-w-e-s-t elevator in the history of elevators.  I think the builder who installed it decided to put half a motor in it so we would all just give up and take the stairs and be much healthier. Just fyi, that doesn't seem to be working so far....).

Finally the doors opened up, I stepped in, and I pushed the button for the ground floor.  And then I waited some more.

The doors crawled shut, the elevator gave a little lurch (as elevators will), and the car began to move.  It's hard to tell that that's occurring in this particular elevator, but you know it's happening because you can see the lights changing on the panel as you move past each floor.

Problem is, the lights on that important panel suddenly went off.

And then, just as it was occurring to me that the elevator actually wasn't moving after all, every one of the lights in the elevator went off.  As in, it got dark.

And I mean dark.

I heard myself say something out loud that sounded a lot like,  "You've got to be kidding me."

I had this flash of a headline run through my mind -- as I always do in such situations, a habit I attribute to decades as a journalist -- "New prez plunges to death in slowest elevator on earth."

I started to breathe just a little harder.  It was really dark in there.

And I thought about pushing the red panic button, but all I could think of were the sirens going off and the fire engines racing onto campus and the people lining up because the new president was stuck in the elevator.

Didn't seem like the best next move.

So I waited some more.  And finally -- after what was probably 2 minutes but seemed like a couple of weeks - the lights came back on.

Big improvement.  The elevator wasn't moving, but at least I could see where I was (in an elevator that wasn't moving).

And as soon as I could see where I was, I started to do the only thing I could think of to do: I started pushing the buttons.  Over and over.  I had moved past the plunging-to-my-death thing; I figured that probably would have happened by now. So now it was a matter of showing the elevator who was boss.

That would be me.

And finally, with another little lurch, the new elevator started to do what new elevators are supposed to do:  it started to move. 

It crawled down to the ground floor, the doors opened, and I all but leapt out into the hallway.

"Safe!"  I heard myself pronounce.

I clutched my briefcase, marched down the hallway and out into the parking lot, and headed toward Tower Hall -- where my room is on the first floor.

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And P.S.: It turns out that the power in LRW Hall went off just after 11 p.m. last night, causing all electrical devices -- such as elevators -- to stop operating. 

It was, in other words, an act of God.

I figure He was just sending me a message that this time, He really means it: We really do need to start taking the stairs....

"Oh, noooooooo!" Life in Tower Hall and other great things about being here....

Kali. Deja. Emily.  Kasha. Amanda. Shanti. Madeleine. Kelsi. Brittany. Anniessa.  Sydney. Saron. Malia. Avery. Echo.

They're Stephens women, every one of them. 

They're among the first-year students who will be joining us this fall, coming from as far away as Washington and California, Vermont and New York, Texas and Colorado, Michigan and Mississippi.  

I wrote a note to each of them in the past few weeks (OK, so my penmanship started to suffer after the first 200 or so, but even the scribbliest messages were absolutely sincere....)

I wanted to welcome them personally.

I wanted to tell them we know that the next few months might seem a little intimidating.  After all, many of them are coming from across the country to a brand new town, a brand new community and a brand new life as a college student (gee, I wonder why they might feel a little.....nervous?).

And I wanted to tell them that I'm new, too.  In fact, the incoming class will be MY class; we're becoming Stephens women together (cool, huh?).

And finally, I wanted to tell them that I've been on campus exactly three days so far, and I've decided that it's the friendliest and most welcoming place I've ever been. 

I'm living in Tower Hall this summer, so I get to meet the students, and they're the best.

One of them (no names, how embarrassing would that be?) locked herself out of her room one night and came knocking on my door.  I was dressed like somebody who was home for the evening, curled up in a chair with her laptop, not expecting company.  You should have seen that student's face when the door opened up, and it was me. 

"Oh, nooooooooo," she said. "I thought this was the RA's room!" 

Good news is, she knew Security's phone number, and it took Josh about 5 minutes to show up and let her back in her room.  And after she'd apologized something like six trillion times, I finally convinced her to stop.....almost.

"Good night," she said as she left with Josh.  "And really, sorry....no, I won't say that.....OK, so see you later."

I sure hope so.

So who says Admissions folks don't have pizzazz?

Now that's what I call a warm welcome:  In honor of my visit to the Admissions Office today, Xander, Heather and Sarah showed up sporting red footwear....pretty stylin', don't you think?

Hello, Stephens!

And so it begins.

I'm writing this -- the first official entry to the Amazing Women blog -- sitting in my office in Lela Raney Wood Hall on the Stephens College campus.

I got here on Monday evening after a full day of impatient waiting (You CAN get here from Ithaca, New York, but it typically involves three different airports, an inevitable measure of mechanical delays, and multiple gate changes).  Tiffany Spradling picked me up at the shuttle office (thanks, Tiffany and Shane!), and took me to my new home in Tower Hall (what better way to understand a student community than to live in it?).

Since then, I have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, many of whom have stopped me on the street or on my way across campus to welcome me and make me feel at home.  (And I do!)

I spent Tuesday morning with two Missourian journalists, reporter Evan Bush and photographer Jarrad Henderson, who did a great job profiling  my first day on campus:

We went to the stables to see the Summer Riding Camp in action, and Sarah and Becky introduced me to Copper, the twenty-something-year-old horse my daughter, Annie, will ride.  (He's a big horse.  A very big horse.)

We watched Ruth Ann Burke teach yoga (someday I'll try that, really I will).

We visited Carol Estey, chair of the Dance Department, in the studios.  Summer Dance Visiting Artist Tony Parise (who appeared in the national tour of the Chorus Line) was teaching a whole room full of tap dancers the show's opening routine (I took tap dancing a few years ago -- mostly just so I could listen to myself tap-tap-tapping across the wooden floor....turns out I have other talents.)

And we watched visiting artist Erik Gratton teach a class of Summer Theater Institute students to beat one another up.

Well, OK, so some of the time they were using swords. 

But most of it was about the slapping and kicking and head banging and body flipping they would need to perform in one of the summer's upcoming shows, Combat. 

I mean, can you imagine a better introduction to Stephens College than a roomful of fabulous women proving -- yet again --  that there's nothing they can't handle....including a barroom brawl.

I'm going to love it here.  I can tell already.