Amazing Women

Hurrah for our Hunters and Jumpers!

This just in from Equestrian professor Sara Linde (we are SO PROUD!):

The Equestrian Department represented Stephens College at the Round To It Hunter/Jumper series November 21-22 at the Midway Expo Center. The show had an amazing turn out with over 100 riders competeing! The riders represented the College well and brought home several Championships.
 
Freshman Caitlin Schneider and "Kicker" were Champion in Beginner Rider Division out of 15 Entries.
 
Freshman Michelle Schultz and "Mollie" were Reserve Champion in Beginner Rider Division out of 15 Entries.
 
Freshman Emile Weber and Bodgit Be Tru "Bo" won a 1st place and several 4ths in the Low Hunter Division out of 12 Entries.
 
Margaret Croy who will be joining our Stephens family as a Equine Science Minor in January rode Platinum Investement "Devon" to several 2nd place and 3rd in the Low Hunter Division out of 12.
 
Senior Courtney Perkins Riley rode her first Hunter/Jumper show on "Kicker" in the crossrail division. She brought home a 2nd-3rd-4th place ribbons out of 20 Entries.
 
Copper took Elaine Phillips to her first horse show in the 4inch Hunter Division. They received a 3rd and 6th place out of 20 riders.
 
I want to give a special thanks to Senior Jordan Slosar who was our amazing horse show mom and assistant. Jordan has been working hard on her teaching skills while in my class. Her project over the past several months has been to teach Elaine Phillips who is 12 yrs old. She got to see all of her hard work pay off this weekend. Junior Rachel Bishop was also there to lend a hand and be a support team to her friends and fellow riders. We truly had a great time and I could not be more proud of my Stephens women!!
 
Best!
Sara Linde
Instructor
 
 

Samantha Potter takes top honors in the American Royal

 

Equestrian Professor Ellen Beard and a whole group of our amazing Equestrian students (nice picture of them, eh?) spent much of the week in Kansas City, competing against (and networking with) the professionals who gather once a year for the American Royal equestrian competition.

Every one of our Stephens women did us proud, but one -- Samantha Potter -- took top honors in her class.  Here's what the Trib had to say about her achievement:

A Stephens College equestrian snagged a royal award in Kansas City last week.

Samantha Potter, a senior, won the United Professional Horsemen’s Association’s Exceptional Challenge Cup Championship at the American Royal on Thursday. The walk and trot riding competition is open to those with mental or physical handicaps.

Potter, who is from Connecticut, is legally blind. She was born with retinopathy of prematurity that caused blindness in her left eye. Then, in the second grade, she developed a cataract that limited vision in her right eye.

That hasn’t kept her out of the stables, though. Potter took her first trail ride at age 6 and has been hooked since. She began riding lessons in her early teens.

Although horses are known for working well with disabled riders, being visually impaired isn’t without its challenges.

“The biggest challenge is when a lot of people are in the ring, just trying to safely move around when it’s hard to see,” Potter said. “Sometimes you just have to try your best to trust the horse.”

Congratulations, Sam, and Ellen, and everybody else who contributed to what was -- as always -- a splendid Stephens accomplishment! 

Get your green on.....we rock!

Nobody said I was a rock star (really, nobody EVER did).  But once in awhile, I get to play with people who really are rock stars (and  I look pretty good in those great big stylin' sunglasses, don't you think?......Annie says not so much....)

But you can still join me and some of the real super Stars of your SGA, and get your green on.....

 

 
 

Stephens loves NY....

Be a student...of the world.

We love Columbia.

It's cozy, it's familiar, it's college-town-America, and it's way fun.

It's also right smack in the middle of these amazing United States -- a wonderful place to become your best self.

But we live in a global environment, a world made smaller (and smaller) by the technologies that connect us across time and space in ways we couldn't have even imagined a decade ago.

And as global citizens in a rapidly changing world, our opportunity -- and our obligation -- to understand and experience cultures different from our own have never been greater. 

That means it's time for YOU to think about studying abroad -- in India, Ireland, Australia, China, Madagascar....if you can dream it, you can do it.

And the first step is to talk to our Study Abroad coordinator, Lynda Baumgartner, and to stop by Columbia Foyer on Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon to talk to Beth Calvert, a representative from International Studies Abroad (ISA), which coordinates study abroad programs around the world.

I promise: Stephens and Columbia will be here when you get back.  In many ways, the only thing that will have changed is....you.

Hungry? I'm buying! (But first, you have to buy, too.....

You must be hungry.

And here's the good news:

I want to take you (and a friend -- any friend) out for dinner.  Anywhere you want to go (within driving distance: Tahiti is out of the question.)

And it's all for a good cause:  A group of amazing Stephens women have established a new student organization whose sole mission is to help kids less fortunate than we are.  They're raising money to help those kids have a happy holiday (among other things).

And their first big idea for raising money was to see if they could pie the prez.

Yes, that would be me.

And yes, that would be about throwing cream pies at me.

There are very few things in the world I wouldn't do for you, my Stephens women...but you can put being pied on that list.

Never one to say no, however (we back up to no, as you may recall), I suggested Plan B.

I suggested that I would be delighted to treat the "biggest donor"  to a dinner out on the town - not just with me, silly, but with a friend AND me.

That could be you.

So here's all you have to do:

Buy a ticket. ($1.  I mean really: ONE dollar.  Such a deal).

Buy another one.

And another.

That's how this works: more tickets, more chances.

On December 7, the Optimist Club will pick the grand winner, contact me with the details (when, and where) and I'll make our reservations.

The company will be good.

The food will be better.

And the results?

That's the best deal of all.

You'll have helped others less fortunate than you are AND won a fabulous dinner.

God bless us, everyone.....

I am honored. Humbled. Happy. And yes, maybe even courageous....

And the best part of the whole wonderful thing is the card I got....which says:

"Lions and tigers and bears.....who cares?"

Now that's what I call courage.

Writers write. Great writers submit to Harbinger. (That's you.)

Harbinger, Stephens College Literary Magazine is now accepting submissions.
 
Any Stephens College student is eligible to submit the following:
 
Poetry: 1- 4 pieces
Prose/Performance: 1- 2 pieces
Artwork: 5-10 pieces
 
You may submit hard copies in any of the Harbinger boxes located around campus.  There is one in every dorm, one in Stamper, one in the library and two on the second floor of Dudley Hall.
 
Please attach a cover slip to each of your submissions with your name and genre.  Please do not put your name directly on your submission.  Cover slips are located on top of every box.
 
You may also submit via email to harbinger@stephens.edu .
 
Submissions are due Friday December 4th.
 
Accepted pieces will be notified in the spring.
 
Thanks,
 
Amy Sand
Harbinger Editor-in-Chief

Keep on truckin.....

When we moved to Columbia in July, we came with our suitcases and our animals (you remember that blog post, don't you?  Baby does a road trip....?)

We expected that, sometime between July and well-before-now, we would have sold our house in New York, and transported all of our stuff -- and believe me, we have STUFF -- to Missouri for good.

Life surprises you sometimes.  It surprises me a lot.

Instead, we're still hunkered down in our little rental house, surrounded by the weirdest Goth-looking rental furniture you've ever seen ("Well, it's certainly not MY taste...." says Annie), and every time I tell her to put on her coat or her boots or her cozier jammies, she pauses, considers, and then shakes her head.  "Don't have that," she says.  "Nope, don't have that, either...." 

So this weekend, Philip -- the college's First Husband -- hopped (well, shuffled) onto a plane at 7 a.m. yesterday, rented a truck, packed it up with everything from Annie's Uggs to my elliptical machine (no more excuses!), and is, as I write this, truckin' across these great United States of ours, everything we own in tow.

He'll get here sometime tomorrow -- unless of course he makes the mistake of stopping somewhere that would require him to employ the vehicle's  "reverse" function.  (We plotted a path that will require nothing but forward motion, but Philip -- bless him -- sometimes strays from his appointed path....).  

In that case, I may have to go out on a "reverse and rescue" mission.....to bring my very own personal moving guy and all of our earthly possessions back home to Columbia. 

Now we just have to figure out where we're going to put 'em all........

Fred takes top honors in OK! (Did we expect less? Of course we didn't.....)

Pictured are Stacy French riding, Karen Craighead coach and dog is Maggie.

This just in from Becky Clervi, chair of the Equestrian Department:

"Hi Everyone;
I just got the news from Tulsa, OK.  Our school horse “Fred” was Champion Novice Amateur Western Pleasure Horse winning under all 3 judges. 

Our rider Stacy French, is a TA for the Equine Department at MU, currently taking Masters classes and has been riding at Stephens for 3 years on and off.

Stacy and Fred were 3rd overall in the SR. Western Pleasure today also.   The coach for this team is Karen Craighead.   
 
Congratulations to all of them. "

HURRAH to the entire Equestrian program, Becky, Stacy, Karen....and of course, Fred!

Vespa! Vespa! Vespa! (Now Vote! Vote! Vote!)

  So......Here's how this works:

We have a blog (this is it).

 

We have a community (we are it).

 

Sometimes, one of us (and it could be YOU next time, just so you know) decides that she's going to compete for some fabulous award or prize or recognition.

 

And all she needs is votes. Lots and lots of votes.

 

And that's where we all come in:  We step up (or log on, as the case may be), and we VOTE.

 

Just FY, you can trust me on this one.  At my last school, students won LOTS of national awards because we worked together.... and when somebody needed votes, we voted.  Sometimes we had voting parties, where we’d all get together and watch movies and vote, and vote, and vote…..

 

And we all knew that, when it was our turn, everybody would vote for us.

 

That's what communities do.

So here's the FIRST one of these requests,

and I am really hoping you'll all step up and help Heather Hillhouse (in our Theatre Department) win a PINK VESPA.

(And yes, if she wins, she will be giving free rides around the LRW parking lot.  She doesn't know that yet; I just decided.)

And even better, you'll be helping the Army of Women fight Breast Cancer.

Here's the deal, straight to you from Heather:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR STEPHENS PROFESSOR RIDING A PINK VESPA SCOOTER TO CLASS?

(Right answer: Yes, we would!)

 

WANT TO HELP IN THE FIGHT TO END BREAST CANCER?

(Right answer:  Well, duh.)

 

JOIN THE ARMY OF WOMEN (at https://www.armyofwomen.org/getinvolved)  AND YOU CAN DO BOTH! 

THEY ARE GIVING AWAY A PINK VESPA SCOOTER TO THE ONE OF THE TOP 5 RECRUITERS FOR THE CAUSE.

HOW TO HELP:  Go to https://www.armyofwomen.org/getinvolved, scroll down, and enter your information.   When it asks you how you heard about Army of Women, select VESPA CONTEST and enter my email personal email address  (hjhillhouse@gmail.com) in the box that appears. 

About the organization:

The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation for Women, a global leader in breast cancer research, joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women.  The two key goals:

·       To recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.

·       To challenge the scientific community to expand its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women.

 

If you have any questions about the organization or about the Vespa (or if you want a ride if I win), feel free to contact me!  Thank you so much for considering helping such a great organization!  

Heather Hillhouse

Department of Theatre

 

Tune in to listen to .....

A day to remember....for all of us

I told you guys.

I told you.

I kept saying it wasn't about me.

I kept saying that it was all about us.  About our incredible faculty. Our amazing students.  Our talented and committed staff.  Our supportive and generous alumnae.  And the history, culture, energy and future that emerges when all of those special people come together under a single banner:  Stephens College.

And Friday proved me right.

We had the best, most exuberant, most exciting and fun and inspiring inauguration event in the history of inauguration events.

Alberto Ibarguen, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, has seen more than his share of such events.  After ours came to a fabulous W-O-M-A-N close, we walked upstairs to hang up our robes (mine were pretty red, eh?  That's because I got my PhD from McGill University in Montreal -- those Canadians are a lively bunch!).  And he turned around to me and said -- with absolute delight and awe -- "WHO starts an inauguration with a tap dance?  And who ends it with W-O-M-A-N????"

And I said the only thing I could have said:  "WE DO!" 

And that's because we are Stephens College.  And nobody does it like we do.

Nobody ever could.

My thanks -- my sincere, deep and heartfelt thanks -- to everybody who made our special celebration as extraordinary as it was -- from Kathy Adams, who chaired the committee, to all of our faculty, staff, students, alumnae, community members, families and my OWN family and friends. 

It was all about us.  Each and every one of us.  Together.

My one regret -- and it is a serious and real regret -- is that we scheduled the Board of Trustees meeting on the same days as the inauguration events.  And while I loved having them here for the festivities, that meant that I had meetings to attend on Friday and Saturday -- and that meant I couldn't make it to all of the special events and presentations and discussions and games that were scheduled for the inauguration.

And that means there are students and faculty and coaches and directors on campus who worked so hard to be a part of the celebration, and yes, others may have seen their amazing work....but I didn't.

Not yet.

We'll just have to do something about that, I think -- won't we?

We will.