Connors State College celebrated the graduation of 25 new nurses in a pinning and candle lighting ceremony held December 9, 2016, in the Fine Arts Auditorium on the Warner Campus. Graduates were pinned by a faculty, staff, family member or friend of their choice, and provided with a Bible courtesy of the Gideons International Auxiliary.
The ceremony signifies the students official initiation into the brotherhood and sisterhood of nurses, said Joyce Johnson, Division Chair for Nursing & Allied Health. The ceremony is rich with symbolism. It is the right of passage which can be traced all the way back to the twelfth century.
The modern ceremony dates back to the 1860s, when Florence Nightingale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George in recognition for her diligent service to the injured during the Crimean War. To share the honor, she in turn presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduated. By 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the United States, and Connors follows this practice.
Trace Williams gave the invocation, while student speakers Lynelle Armstrong and Kyle Pingleton gave prepared remarks about the classes journey together, followed by the benediction from Andrea Grisham.
Fall 2016 Graduates – Lynelle Armstrong, Prince Barnes, Kallene Brewer, Kasey Chica, Megan Cox, Jennifer Dickey, Vannessa Fuentes, Andrea Grisham, Katheryn Harsen, Moria Kinsey, Shannon Lacey, Alaina Moore, Krista Mora, Jordan Nunley, Shoshannah Nunley, Desiree Offutt, Mariah Pellegrino, Lisa Pierce, Kyle Pingleton, Amanda Sherbourne, Amber Thompson, Amber Waid, Derek White, Trace Williams, Leslie Yeargain.
View a full photo album online: Here!