The Power of Women expo and luncheon Wednesday, May 3, will encourage women in the region to support Southeast Missouri State University through service and philanthropy.

The event will start at 10 a.m., with the luncheon at 11:45 a.m., at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau

Molly Eggleston

Molly Eggleston

This year's keynote speaker will be Molly Eggleston. Eggleston was one of the first to receive a Power of Women Scholarship. She graduated from SEMO with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Since graduation, she has been a recipient of the 2018 Saint Louis Magazine's Cardiovascular Nurse of the Year award and the 2019 Missouri March of Dimes Critical Care Nurse of the Year award. Eggleston received her Doctor in Nursing from Saint Louis University in 2021.

The Power of Women Scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate a passion for a life of service, are attending SEMO full time and have completed at least 30 credit hours with a minimum 2.75 cumulative grade point average.

The scholarship was first awarded in the fall of 2013 and became an endowed scholarship in the spring of 2014. Since its start, 64 students have received the scholarship.

Ciara Southard

Ciara Southard

Last year's scholarship recipient was Ciara Southard.

"Scholarships are the reason I am able to study and work toward my dreams," Southard said on the Power of Women page at www.semo.edu. "As a student from a single-parent household, the price of college was something I was concerned about, and scholarships like the Power of Women are the reason I am able to be here."

Tickets for the luncheon are $35. Table packages may be bought for $200 (six) luncheon tickets as well as two student ambassadors as table hosts.

The Power of Women program was created in 2012 for SEMO students.

To learn more about the foundation, buy tickets or donate, visit www.semo.edu/about/foundation/ways-to-give/power-of-women.