50th Class of WT Nurses Celebrated at Annual Pinning Ceremony

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — The 50th class of West Texas A&M University nurses officially was welcomed to the profession in a special pre-commencement observance.

WT’s Laura and Joe Street School of Nursing’s annual pinning ceremony—held May 10 in Legacy Hall inside the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on WT’s Canyon campus—recognized 60 students graduated May 11.

Alumni from the first class of WT nurses also attended the ceremony, including former Texas First Lady Anita Thigpen Perry, a WT Distinguished Alumna.

Pinning ceremonies are an opportunity to recognize the students’ hard work and dedication in their clinicals and in classwork, marking the transition from student to nurse, said Dr. Holly Jeffries, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

“WT’s pin is one of the most striking, and it’s worn with pride by those who earn it,” Jeffreys said. “By presenting these pins, professional nurses warmly welcome graduates into the profession of nursing, and WT alumni welcome these graduates into the ever-growing family of WT nursing graduates.”

Of the 61 graduates, all but six will remain in the area in jobs across the Texas Panhandle, said Dr. Collette Loftin, interim head of the Street School of Nursing. Additionally, many will return to WT to begin work on graduate degrees.

Students take the Nightingale Pledge, named for Florence Nightingale, known as the mother of modern nursing.

May 2024 graduates in the bachelor of science in nursing program who were pinned are (with hometowns):

Established in 1972 and graduating its first students in 1974, WT’s Department of Nursing in its College of Nursing and Health Sciences currently provides about 70 percent of nurses employed throughout the Texas Panhandle.

WT nursing graduates, over the past five years, have averaged a 97 percent score on the National Council Licensure Examination, required by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the United States and Canada. Nationally, the average is 85 percent; in Texas, it’s 87 percent.

Educating nurses is a key component of WT’s mission to address regional challenges, as set out in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Photo: Jamie Crandall, a May graduate in nursing from Earth, is pinned by her sister, Heather Sauer, a registered nurse, during the annual pinning ceremony for West Texas A&M University's Laura and Joe Street School of Nursing. Also pictured are Katie Spear, second from left, instructor of nursing, and Laura Reyher, Baptist Community Services Professor of Rural Health.

—WT—