A&F Newsletter
Summer 2006
Stephanie McCorgary Osterthun
'88
Mrs. Stephanie (McCorgary) Osterthun has so many
wonderful memories of Arkalalah, but none can top the memory of being
crowned Queen Alalah LVII. “I felt like it was such an honor
for my family, my parents and grandparents were so proud of me,” Osterthun
said. She also holds dear the memories of attending the street games
with her grandparents, the late Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Nugen, and of marching
with the Arkansas City High School band during the Arkalalah parade.
Osterthun attended Cowley from 1987-1989. At Cowley, she was involved in the
CC Singers and inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She went on to
graduate from Wichita State University in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree
in general studies, with a primary concentration in administration of justice
and a secondary concentration in accounting and economics. She worked in the
public affairs office at Koch Industries and as a receptionist at a Wichita area
law firm before deciding to enroll for a Paralegal program at Wichita State in
August of 1993. However, she received a call from her mother, Cheryl Townsley,
about an admissions representative position that was open at Cowley College,
and decided not to enroll in the Paralegal program and instead applied for the
position at Cowley.
She was hired by the school in September, and has been involved in helping college
students ever since. “Other than meeting my husband (Stu), it was the best
thing that ever happened to me,” Osterthun said. “I finally found
out what I wanted to do, and that is to help college students.” She worked
at Cowley for two years before moving to Manhattan to begin working on her master’s
degree. She obtained her masters in student counseling and personnel services
from Kansas State University in December 1997. She spent the final few months
driving to Manhattan from Arkansas City to finish her masters program as she
was hired back at Cowley as a counselor/advisor in September 1997. She went on
to become the Director of Admissions at Cowley in April 1998 and held the position
until August of 2000, when she left to become the Director of Onsite Advising
at Butler Community College’s Andover center. She eventually became a full-time
advisor at Butler before leaving the school this past April. Osterthun’s
husband, Stu, worked at Cowley for 13 years before accepting a position as a
marketing specialist in the office of University Relations at his alma mater,
Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo., this past October.
Osterthun recently began a new job on June 1, serving as the Director of Financial
Literacy for the National Student Loan Program, which is based in Lincoln, Neb.
The job consists of traveling to college campuses and financial aid conferences
to give workshops on debt/money management to college students and financial
aid officers with the goal of reducing student loan default rates. “It’s
going to be different, but it is exciting to learn something new and have a new
challenge,” Osterthun said. “I will miss the direct contact with
students, but am also looking forward to the change of pace.” Osterthun
has attended each Queen’s coronation since being named Queen LVII. Although
she has left Ark City, she will continue to make it back for Arkalalah. “I
am so proud of the Arkalalah tradition,” Osterthun said. “It takes
a tremendous amount of commitment from so many people to put together an event
of this magnitude. This coming Arkalalah will be even more special because I
will be living farther away. I have a guaranteed excuse to come home.”