‘What it Means to be a Pitt Nurse’: School of Nursing Celebrates Graduates

The themes of trust, responsibility and resilience threaded through the speeches at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing commencement ceremony, held at the new Victory Heights building on May 1.

“Through your clinical rotations and research endeavors, you have already begun to take care of our communities,” said Christine E. Kasper, dean of the School of Nursing.

“This is your time to go out and show the world what it means to be a Pitt nurse.”

Commencement speaker Leeanna McKibben, vice chancellor for administration and chief of staff for the health sciences, University of Pittsburgh, who began her career in health care as a cardiac critical care nurse, urged the students to “recognize that your humanity is not separate from your practice, it’s actually your greatest strength.”

She advised that when they encounter setbacks or disappointments, they should not merely bounce back, but “bounce up.”

“Bounce up by staying curious, by continuing to learn, by seeking better answers,” she said. “Bounce up by staying connected to your why, reaffirming why you chose this profession. Bounce up by staying courageous and resilient, because you can do hard things.”

Families and friends seated in the stands juggled bouquets and cameras to clap and cheer for the graduates, including one PhD student, eight Doctor of Nursing Practice students, three master of Science in Nursing students, and 181 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students. Forty-three graduating students participated in the Undergraduate Research Mentorship Program. And 13 honors college students graduated with BSN degrees, six of whom completed innovative honors theses on subjects ranging from mental health literacy among middle school children to the treatment of ovarian cancer patients undergoing hysterectomies.

Many BSN graduates have accepted new roles at prestigious health care organizations across the country, including UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Johns Hopkins Hospital, children’s hospitals in Philadelphia and Boston, Penn Medicine, Duke Health, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the United States Army and Navy.

Others will directly enter graduate school to continue their education.

Highlights of the ceremony included student speakers Kae-Lin You and Kelly Cincotta, and the “passing of the light” tradition representing nurses’ commitment being handed down from one generation of nurses to the next, with the passing of small white lamps. This concept recalls Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, who carried a lamp while tending to injured British soldiers during the Crimean War. BSN students with the highest academic standing are selected to serve as the Keepers of the Light.