2014 graduating nursing students honored at pinning ceremony

HUNTINGTON, Ind. Seventeen Huntington University graduating nursing students were honored in a traditional pinning ceremony today.

The Class of 2014 is the fourth graduating class from the Department of Nursing.

The history of the pinning ceremony comes from the Crimean War when Florence Nightingale took 38 women to Turkey to nurse sick and wounded British soldiers. As she cared for her patients by the light of a lamp, Florence Nightingale became known as the "lady with the lamp." As a tribute to Florence's dedication, the lamp icon became symbolic of nursing. In the traditional ceremony the nursing pin is used to signify this same dedication, the end of formal education and the beginning of practice. It is a way of welcoming graduates into the nursing profession.

At the ceremony, students received the Huntington University Department of Nursing pin with the department's emblem.

This year, Lindsay Shellabarger was presented with the Senior Leadership Award. The Leadership Award is voted on by the senior class.

The ceremony also included a "Passing of the Lamp" presentation from Shellabarger to Brianna Givens.

"The pinning ceremony has a distinctive meaning to graduating nursing students as it signifies the end of an intense and rigorous education leading them to the socialization into their chosen careers," said Dr. Margaret Winter, director of nursing.

Commencement exercises at Huntington University are scheduled for May 17.

The following students were honored during the ceremony:

Caitlin Adams of Hughson, Calif.
Rachel Bayon of Indianapolis, Ind.
Paige Bontrager of Shipshewana, Ind.
Karyssa Boyd of Urbana, Ind.
Miranda Boyts of Goshen, Ind.
Brooke Capalbo of Fort Wayne, Ind.
Adam Guy of Huntington, Ind.
Sarah Jennings of Albany, Ind.
Essie Kaufman of Grabill, Ind.
Abbey Keister of Avilla, Ind.
Caleb Little of Galesburg, Mich.
Kaitlyn Maggart of Huntington, Ind.
Megan Meier of Mishawaka, Ind.
Kona Musa of Silver Spring, Md.
Lindsay Shellabarger of Rockford, Ohio
Kelly Stace of Fort Wayne, Ind.
Kaleigh Woodcox of Bremen, Ind