By Diana Schulin
Amidst the shouts, cheers, clapping, and even tears of joy, 105 undergraduate and 78 graduate students walked across the stage at the Lyric Opera House to receive their diplomas at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing 2009 commencement ceremony on May 21st. An additional 142 undergraduate students in the accelerated class graduated in a separate ceremony in July on the Homewood Campus.
Mary Woolley, president of Research!America and keynote speaker at the May ceremony, urged the graduates to be both a nurse and an advocate for nursing, saying that “the truth doesn’t speak for itself,” and added that advocacy is the key to getting more research and funding to advance the science of nursing.
Faculty members Laura Taylor and Shirley Van Zandt were honored during the ceremony as they were named the 2009 recipients of the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Awards.
The day before graduation was special as well, with 78 students inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the International Honor Society of Nursing.
