A charter member of the National Association of Physical Educators in Higher Education. A recipient of the Division of Girl and Women’s Sports National Pathfinder Award, the Kansas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (KAHPERD) Honor, and the Emporia State University (ESU) Teachers College Service Award. The first non-ESU alumnus to be inducted into the Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Wellness (HPER) Hall of Honor.
These are only a few of the accomplishments that highlight the impact of the late Dr. Marjorie E. “Marge” Stone’s lifetime achievements. Through her work and service, she impacted not just Emporia State but all of society.
Emporia State University will celebrate the Marjorie Stone Scholarship gift from the Dr. Marge Stone estate at a bell-ringing ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 16, in the Sauder Alumni Center from 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
While Stone may have been most known as a professor, she also served in numerous other roles such as coach, coordinator, volunteer, athlete and charter member of an organization within higher education. She also left her impact on her colleagues, students and Emporia State’s Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Wellness (HPER) program.
“Dr. Stone not only had a significant impact on the direction and growth of the HPER program but also on the students,” said Dr. Kathy Ermler, dean of the Graduate School at Emporia State. “She was coming through a generation when physical education and athletics were separate but not equal. That generation went through a lot to bring them together.
“There were many arguments, fights and disagreements about what and who should lead, and how a professional physical education group should interact. It took tough women to get through that. While they were kind, wonderful mentors, they were also tough as nails.”
Stone’s professional career at Emporia State spanned for 25 years, from 1964-89. As a professor in the Emporia State HPER program, her main emphasis was teacher preparation. She also was a volunteer in the following honor organizations: Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Lambda Theta, Delta Kappa Gamma and Who’s Who in American Women. Stone not only supported students in the classroom but outside the classroom as well.
One of the ways Stone inspired students was through her passion for competition, as she was both an athlete and coach. Stone coached the Hornet softball, women’s basketball and gymnastics teams while playing competitively on state/regional softball and basketball teams. As Stone was a coach and an athlete, she coordinated summer girls’ sports clinics.
Stone supported students not only in the classroom but financially as well. In 1988, she established the Marjorie Stone Scholarship that provides renewable scholarships for students who are majoring in physical education and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Stone later committed to boost the scholarship’s impact by making a planned gift with her estate. After Stone passed away in spring 2015 at age 89, her ultimate gift of more than $500,000 ensured that many future Hornets would have the support they need as they earn their degrees.
A note Stone wrote to the ESU Foundation in April 2013 summarizes who Stone was as a human being, and the everlasting legacy she will forever have: “I am happy to help students fulfill their dreams of achieving a higher education, and ultimately, making a contribution to the betterment of society.”
For information about how you can be a part of Now & Forever, the Campaign for Emporia State University through documentation of your planned gift, please contact campaign manager Carol Cooper at 620-341-6463.