STEPHENS COLLEGE HEAD TO TAKE OATH

COLUMBIA - The new president of Stephens College, Marcia Kierscht, says she hopes to prepare her female students for the world's power structure after they graduate.

Kierscht, the 22nd president of Stephens, will be inaugurated Saturday. The theme of the ceremonies is "Women in the New Millennium: A Global Perspective."

"A woman's college gives women a chance to have mainstream power on campus," Kierscht said. "They are then better prepared to go out into the world."

Stephens College, started in 1833, is the second oldest women's college in the country. The college has about 1,000 students.

Kierscht said she believes in long-term decision making. When the administration makes decisions, she focuses on how they affect the college's efforts to be one of the premiere women's colleges in the nation, she said.

One of Kierscht's assets is her visibility, said Debbie Duren, Stephens' interim dean of students.

"She's everywhere," Duren said. "She's in the residence halls; she's eating in the commons; she's visiting with different programs. She's in touch."

Before coming to Stephens, Kierscht was vice president of Consortium of Universities of the Washington, D.C., Metro Area. She also has been an administrator at Tri-College University and Moorhead State University, and a faculty member at Vanderbilt Medical School.