The Power of Women program for Southeast students began in 2012 and is designed to encourage women – Southeast alumni, businesswomen, and community members throughout the region – to support Southeast Missouri State University through service and philanthropy.

Through this program, the University Foundation hopes to connect female students at Southeast with financial resources to fund their education as well as opportunities to learn through mentorships, internships, and service projects in the region. The annual event brings together extraordinary women to celebrate and empower one another and to enhance the future of their next generation of colleagues. A portion of proceeds from the event is awarded as scholarships.

The Power of Women Scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate a passion for a life of service, are attending Southeast full time, and have completed at least 30 credit hours with a minimum 2.75 grade point average. Each recipient submits an application demonstrating significant academic achievement, involvement at the University and commitment to volunteerism and community service. The Power of Women Scholarship Committee selects the recipients based on these factors as well as their future aspirations for success in their career and personal life.

The Power of Women Scholarship was first awarded in the fall of 2013 and endowed in the spring of 2014. Since its inception, 64 students have received the Power of Women Scholarship.

2023 Keynote Speaker

Molly Eggleston

The Power of Women Luncheon will feature our dynamic and empowering keynote speaker Ms. Molly Eggleston. Molly is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and while attending, she was one of the first recipients of the Power of Women Scholarship. Since earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she has worked at Mercy Hospital Saint Louis in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit as a registered nurse and adult ECMO specialist. She was the 2018 recipient of the Saint Louis Magazine’s Cardiovascular Nurse of the Year award and the 2019 recipient of the Missouri March of Dimes Critical Care Nurse of the Year award. Molly has served as an adjunct faculty instructor at Maryville University and the University of Missouri-Saint Louis. Molly currently serves on the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation Board. She received her Doctor of Nursing from Saint Louis University in 2021. Today, Molly is a leader in the Nursing field at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis where she is an acute care nurse practitioner in critical care medicine.

Power of Women Scholarship Committee

The Power of Women Scholarship Committee consists of Southeast Missouri State staff, Southeast alums and community businesswomen who hold a valued interest in seeing our current female students succeed.

Every spring, the Committee reviews dozens of applications and ultimately chooses ten recipients, based on demonstration of significant academic achievement, involvement at the University and commitment to volunteerism and community service, as well as future aspirations for success in their career and personal life.

University Committee Members

• Michele Irby, Director of Campus Life and Event Services
• Brad Koester, Associate Director of Development
• Amanda Lincoln, Director of Development
• Tonya Wells, Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications
• External Committee Members
  • Dawn Dauer
  • Jayne Schrader
  • Sue Shepard Simmons
  • Jeanette Wachter