From Student to Professor

With a strong passion for theatre and teaching, Kasey Cox is equipped to be a permanent part of the Missouri Baptist University faculty. By being a former student at MBU, Cox has a unique perspective when it comes to teaching. Her faith leads her as she journeys on as a full-time instructor here this year. 

Photo by Spencer Randolph

Kasey Cox engages her students in discussion during a recent Drama in Ministry class.

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The only thing Kasey Cox ever imagined doing with her life was teaching.

The Iuka, Ill., native attended MBU for her undergraduate degree, class of 2010, and earned her graduate degree from Fontbonne University in 2014. Cox majored in music with a focus in musical theatre for her undergraduate degree, and achieved her master’s in art and theater.

After getting married in 2010, Cox moved to Cape Girardeau, Mo., where she developed her own theater group called “Acting Out,” where she wrote and directed many shows.

Shortly after, she was called upon by Dr. Joy Powell, director of theatre at MBU, to help direct the group, In Charactre in 2011 and this ultimately led her to pursue her master’s and start her teaching career at MBU.

“I specifically wanted to be at MBU. Working here is almost like a calling. There’s no place I’d rather be,” Cox explained.

Beginning as an adjunct instructor, Cox taught for three and a half years, becoming a full-time instructor this semester.

“It’s a bit easier when you are a female and get married before coming back. Since I had a different last name, a lot of people I was in school with did not know from my name that I was going to be teaching,” Cox said.

Cox explained how invited and supported she felt when becoming a full-time instructor. She felt that all of her colleagues, many of whom were her own professors during her undergraduate, were able to so seamlessly accept her as a peer and treat her with respect.

Taking on her new role as a full-time instructor, Cox teaches five classes, some in the Theatre Department and some in the Communications Department. As an instructor in two different departments she believes this gives her an edge and a higher awareness of both fields.

“Theatre at its most fundamental core is about communication,” Cox said. Believing the two areas of education are linked, she explained how she incorporates different theater games into her communication classes. This tactic is taught based on her observation that it helps students communicate more effectively and freely.

Cox aspires to revitalize the speech theater major, as well as start a forensics team on campus. She has a strong passion for MBU and is excited to be a permanent part of the Communications Department.

As an idea to live and teach by, Cox said, “We ought to be good at what we do at all times as a Christian university. Reflect Christ because he is excellent.”