Ominike “Nikki” Akinleye was here. And there. And everywhere. Akinleye, a May graduate of the inaugural MSN: Entry into Nursing Practice program, cut a swath through the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing as well as the Baltimore community. She takes a few souvenirs with her, including her spot as student speaker at graduation, the admiration of her peers, and the Reverend Melvin B. Tuggle Community Excellence Award.
“Reverend Tuggle and our community members were thrilled with your work developing and implementing the Dunbar Nursing Enrichment Program, part of the Dunbar Partnership, and an integral influence on the futures of our young people in East Baltimore,” says a letter announcing the award. The confidence-building program introduces juniors and seniors from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School to the profession of nursing.
Akinleye was of course also involved as MSN: Entry into Nursing Practice students organized a fundraiser to support the We the People campaign, which offered free artwork for protest signs at the Women’s March on Washington in January 2017 and elsewhere. (Akinleye and her colleagues turned the art into T-shirts.) As a thank you, We the People presented the students with large-format posters that celebrate diversity and freedom. These souvenirs have been donated to the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing as a gift from Akinleye’s cohort and are on display in the Pinkard Building.