'Loud and proud': A heartfelt send-off for Stephens College graduates

Magical. Empowering. Home. Those are some of the ways that the 132 young women who graduated with bachelor's degrees from Stephens College on Saturday said they will remember their time at the second-oldest women's college in the country. A separate commencement for graduate and online students was held Friday evening in the Kimball Ballroom of Lela Raney Wood Hall on Stephens' campus.

With the sun beaming down and May flowers in full bloom, the graduating class of 2018 made its traditional procession down Lynch and Ninth streets into Missouri Theatre. For the first time in the college's 185year history, all 1,280 seats at the venue were filled.

"We've been waiting for this since high school," said Lenora Brown, a fashion design major who already had a job lined up as a pattern maker for a dance company.

"It's a magical place. It's a sisterhood," added Brown's classmate Cara Brokes, a theater arts major who will be working as an apprentice at the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis.

"They are the real leaders of tomorrow," Dean of the School of Creative and Performing Arts Gail Humphries Mardirosian proudly said as she waited in the lobby with other faculty before the main event.

As the ceremony began, President Dianne Lynch made it clear to family and friends in the audience that at Stephens College, "we do things our way" and to expect a "loud and proud" commencement.

Loud, proud and original it was.

Instead of a guest speaker, the college continued its tradition of playing a video compilation entitled "A Collection of Magic Moments," containing heartfelt messages and reflections from faculty, staff and students.

"It's unlikely you would remember what a guest speaker would say to you — unless it was Beyoncé," Lynch joked. "We know better than anyone what we want to say to you."

As the video played, the deep bonds formed between students and their professors were remembered on screen.

"Go out into the world and lead," a group of faculty said in the video. "We will miss you."

"Friendship is eternal," one student said, and another graduate thanked the faculty for always believing in them.

"Even Beyoncé couldn't have said it better," Lynch said after the montage.

Perhaps the most memorable portion of the ceremony came when class speaker Azizah Badwan, winner of the Stephens College Alumnae Association Award, vice president of the Student Government Association and fashion marketing graduate, took the stage.

"Stephens is unconventional," Badwan said before delivering a truly unconventional address. She described what she admired about each of her fellow 131 graduates, going row by row, seat by seat:

"Row A, seat 5: You are someone's reason to smile."

"Row B, seat 6: There's ordinary, then there's you."

"Row C, seat 13: You are the true embodiment of black girl magic. You inspire me."

"Row G, seat 8: I admire that you're never afraid to ask the tough questions."

"Row K, seat 3: Thank you for being you."

"I want you to know that you are seen, you are heard and most importantly, you made a lasting impact on someone," Badwan said.

After Badwan took her seat, Senior Class President Marlena Thompson offered a few more words of inspiration to her classmates before they moved on to pursue new opportunities.

"You may fall, but muster the energy to pick yourself back up," she said.

Thompson then presented Lynch with the senior class gift — a signed photograph of the class of 2018 and a $400 donation to the college's Magic Moments Fund, which offers financial support to students who want to pursue unexpected opportunities.

"There will never be another class like the class of 2018," Lynch said before the graduates walked across the stage to receive their diplomas.

"You are more powerful than you may believe."