Congratulations to Barry University’s newest BSN graduates! The Nursing Class of 2020 joined faculty and staff last week for a virtual pinning ceremony and celebration of their achievements. Undergraduate Nursing Chair Dr. Carolyn Hart opened the ceremony with a message of encouragement that was well timed to our current moment. She commended the Class of 2020—the first to graduate amid a global pandemic—for rising to the myriad challenges placed before them, from navigating online classes and virtual clinicals to preparing to enter the frontlines of the Covid-19 response. She urged the Class of 2020 to remain humble, empathetic, and thankful as they advance in their careers. “In your journey to excellence,” she said, “never forget your humanity.”
Though the 2020 graduates could not gather in person for their traditional pinning ceremony, they were treated to a history of the nursing pin by Assistant Professor of Nursing Dr. Faye Milne. “Just as soldiers received medals of bravery for outstanding service, the original nursing pin was awarded for heroic activities of nurses who cared for the sick and injured during wartime,” said Milne. The Barry University nursing pin was designed in 1957 by the first graduating nursing class and represents the school’s link with 700 years of Dominican history.
A congratulatory speech by Class of 2020 graduate Yusiley Borges, closing remarks by College of Nursing and Health Sciences Dean Dr. John McFadden, and a Benediction by Father Cristobal Torres concluded the ceremony and sent the new grads toward their futures in high spirits.