Stephenson Scholarship in Musical Theatre

June 14, 2017

In its 35 year history, the Musical Theatre program at San Diego State University has seen nearly 130 scholar-artists graduate with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theatre. Founded in 1981 by Dr. Gordon Howard, Dr. Terry O’Donnell, and Dr. Dude Stephenson, the MFA is a specialized and rigorous two-year terminal degree, and our talented students rely on the scholarship and programmatic support provided by friends like you.  

As a top-notch program for a select group of talented students, we draw from a pool of theatre professionals from across the nation. We offer to teach them to be Scholar Artists, and ask that they commit fully to this rigorous program– meaning they often cannot work or travel during their education. Because of this, nearly all students require scholarship support.

Last semester, Dude and his wife Cathy established the Stephenson Scholarship in Musical Theatre.  They have generously offered to match gifts up to $25,000 to this fund. As alumni and friends of Musical Theatre at SDSU, I am sure you know the enormous impact Dude has made on the programs and the lives of innumerable students over the years. We invite you to contribute to this scholarship fund, which will allow SDSU to endow the scholarship, providing financial support in perpetuity.

Your tax-deductible gift of any amount ensures that students who otherwise may not be able to attend are able to benefit from professional training and academic challenges from supportive and skilled faculty, such as Dude Stephenson.  We would like to thank Dude and Cathy for their meaningful gift, and invite you to consider honoring Dr. Stephenson with a gift to the Stephenson Scholarship at  campaign.sdsu.edu/stephensonscholarship 

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.

More PSFA Stories