Southwest Nursing Graduates Pledge Compassion and Courage at Fall 2025 Pinning Ceremony
Southwest nursing graduates light candles during the Fall 2025 Pinning
Ceremony, symbolizing the passing of knowledge and their commitment
to compassionate care.
Southwest’s Department of Nursing honored its Fall 2025 graduates during a pinning ceremony held at Nabors Gym on the Macon Cove Campus, marking a milestone moment for 40 new graduates as they transitioned from students to professionals.
Before a crowd of family members, friends, faculty, and fellow students, each graduate received a nursing pin and recited the Nightingale Pledge, reaffirming a commitment to compassionate, ethical, and patient-centered care. The ceremony highlighted both the academic rigor of the program and the personal journeys that carried graduates to the stage.
Katrina Lampkin, chair of the Nurse Pinning Committee, opened the ceremony by emphasizing the deeper meaning behind the tradition. “Tonight, we gather to recognize not just an academic achievement, but a profound calling,” Lampkin said. She thanked families and supporters for their sacrifices, noting that the pins symbolize “responsibility, honor, and the legacy of Florence Nightingale.”
Dr. Jose da Silva, interim vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, welcomed attendees on behalf of the college, underscoring the significance of the occasion for both the graduates and the community. The pinning ceremony, he said, represents the shift “from learning about care to being entrusted with it.” Da Silva praised the graduates for choosing “not the easy road, but the meaningful one,” and reminded them they are entering a profession that is “trusted, respected, and desperately needed.”
Representing the graduating cohort, Student Nursing Government Association President Hannah Mathis delivered an emotional address that was both humorous and reflective. She recalled the challenges of nursing school, from sleepless nights to demanding clinicals, and the growth that came with them. “Our pins symbolize more than just finishing a program,” Mathis said. “They represent our resilience, our growth, and all the moments that brought us to this point.” She thanked the faculty for shaping the class and classmates for becoming a family forged through shared struggle.
The keynote address was delivered by Professor Mary Lee Jacobson, an assistant professor of nursing with more than four decades of clinical and teaching experience. Jacobson described nursing as both an art and a science, quoting nursing theorist Jean Watson, who defines it as “the art of healing and the science of care woven together by empathy.” She urged graduates to balance evidence-based practice with compassion, reminding them to “look at the patient, not just the machine.”
Jacobson encouraged lifelong learning and professional involvement, telling graduates, “Let us never consider ourselves finished nurses. We must be learning all of our lives,” while also highlighting the enduring impact of nursing trailblazers such as Mary Eliza Mahoney, the nation’s first professionally trained African American nurse and a trailblazer for equity in the profession.
Dr. Sharon Hightower presents the Mary Mahoney
Award to nursing graduate Kendra Springfield at
Southwest’s Fall 2025 Pinning Ceremony.
During each pinning ceremony, the Mary Mahoney Award is presented to a nursing student recognized for perseverance and determination in both nursing school and life. The award was presented to Kendra Springfield.
Recognition was given to John Nixon III for Special Faculty Award, Brianna Nagler for Academic Excellence, Anna Ford for the Florence Nightingale Award and Hannah Mathis for Leadership.¬¬¬
Graduates who received pins are: Tawana Adams, Kyia Banks, Brian Baskette, Dominique Beverly, Bridget Blurton, Kristal Bruce, Ted Butler, Brania Campbell, Patricia Campbell, Chelsea Davis, Mary De Gry, Teionna Dunlap, Anna Ford, Brian Harwell, Neesha Jackson, Desirae Johnson, Haley Johnson, Drenisha Jones, Leonor Juntila, India Kelly, Brandy Kenney, Katrina Lampkin, Hannah Mathis, Damiona Miller, Brianna Nagler, Joanna Nichols, John Nixon III, Samantha Perry, Markedia Powell, Tauneshia Sanders, Robin Smart, Kendra Springfield, Vernie Stamps, Alisha Tate, Whitney Washington, Vanessa Whipple, Krystal Williams, Angela Williams-Johnson and Deidre Willis.