- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Nine graduating nursing students in the class of 2016 participated in the annual Baccalaureate in Nursing Ceremony on April 23.
The pinning ceremony, which is a time-honored nursing school tradition, signifies the participants’ official initiation into the brotherhood and sisterhood of nurses.
Among those pinned were: Khalilah Shoatz, Megan Grove, Darlene Moody, Ayanna Sangster, Liza Nyakondo, Ashley Ellis, Tiana Robb, Ayana Stewart and Hafeeza Malik.
Stewart was also the recipient of the “Outstanding Nursing Student” award, Sangster, the “Young Professional” award, and Moody, the “Most Improved Nursing Student” award.
Kathryn Starr Lynch, BSN/RNC-OB and manager of the Maternity Care Unit at Jennersville Regional Hospital was the keynote speaker.
According to the program, the history of the ceremony can be traced back to the Crusades of the 12th century. The Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist tended to injured and infirmed Crusaders. When new monks were initiated into the order, they vowed to serve these sick soldiers in a ceremony where each monk was given a Maltese cross – the first badges given to those who nurse.
The modern ceremony dates back to the 1860s when Florence Nightengale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George in recognition for her tireless service to the injured during the Crimean War. To share the honor, she in turn presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduates. By 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the U.S.
At the end of Saturday’s ceremony, student participants performed the Nightengale Pledge.
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Compiled By Eric Christopher Webb ’91, Director, Office of Communications & Public Relations
Photo caption: From left to right: Interim President Dr. Richard Green, Khalilah Shoatz, Nursing Program Interim Director Joyce Taylor, Megan Grove, Darlene Moody, Ayanna Sangster, Liza Nyakondo, Ashley Ellis, Tiana Robb, Ayana Stewart and Hafeeza Malik.