ALUMNI & FRIENDS
A SHINING WEEKEND: FPB ALUMNI CELEBRATION 2009
Alumni Relations HomeSupport the SchoolNominate Alumni for AwardsAlumni Celebration 2009Alumni Award WinnersAlumni Class NotesFPB Nursing MagazineReunion ChallengeContact Us |
|
There was much to celebrate during FPB’s Alumni Celebration 2009 as over 250 attendees joined Dean May Wykle and the FPB family for various exciting events conducted in honor of alumni. Held May 15, 16 & 17, the weekend festivities began Friday afternoon, with many alumni arriving on campus in time to witness the historic pinning ceremony at Epworth-Euclid United Methodist Church (near campus) for nursing students who have completed an FPB nursing program.
Following the ceremony and a brief reception, generations of lifelong learners gathered at the Wolstein Research Building across from the nursing school for the educational seminar “Impact of Genetics on Family History – Implications for Nurses.”The seminar, which provided one nursing contact hour to attendees, was presented by FPB’s own Assistant Professor Mary T. Quinn Griffin, PhD ’01, MSN ’93. Based on her research in genetics, Dr. Quinn Griffin described the U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative and discussed the clinical significance of assessing family history. In addition, she identified examples of current genetic testing related to chronic diseases, and examined the critical implications for practicing nurses.
This slideshow presents highlights from Alumni Celebration 2009. Mouse over the images for different viewing controls. |
Alumni and guests then enjoyed a welcome back alumni reception also held at the Wolstein Research Building. There, alumni mingled with classmates and friends to reminisce about old times as students and catch up on their personal lives together. The Class of 1959 had its own special 50th reunion gathering where classmates looked at memory books, shared photos, and watched a slideshow from their time as student nurses. Dean Wykle also spoke to the class and presented each attending 50th reunion alumna with her own commemorative 50-Year Graduate pin as a tribute from the school.
On Saturday, May 16, the Alumni Luncheon, which is the prominent and most popular event of each Alumni Celebration weekend, attracted alumni from 28 states and three countries to The InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center at the Cleveland Clinic campus nearby. University President Barbara R. Snyder welcomed alumni and gave a special address to the nurses, stating, “My life has been touched in a personal way by the nursing profession. In fact, my only sister, mother-in-law, and three of my four sisters-in-law are nurses. I know first-hand the critical role of nurses in healthcare delivery, and I am proud to be associated with the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. FPB continues to earn the reputation of being one of the best nursing schools in the nation.”
Reunion classes included members from the classes ending with graduation years of 4 or 9, ranging from 1944 all the way through 2004, with 2009 graduating classes joining the alumni ranks that day as well. Alumni in attendance relished the time to mingle and catch up, and by the time lunch was served, the room was filled to the brim with the happy chatter of 180 alumni, 53 new 2009 graduates who attended the luncheon thanks to generous donations from a number of alumni sponsors, and family and friends. During her speech thanking alumni on behalf of her class for their sponsorship of the graduates’ meals, Julia Judge, BSN ’09, warmly expressed to the crowd, “We are so proud to join a profession in which success is judged by the well-being of others.”
After lunch, Class of 1959 representatives presented Dean Wykle with a check for $170,000 from their Reunion Challenge winning class. The Reunion Challenge is part of the school’s annual fund, and is used to help raise money for critical programs not covered in the operating budget. Alumni can make unrestricted gifts or can direct them to a specific fund. The Class of 1954 took 2nd place, raising $105,830 with 58% of its 55th reunion members participating. The 60th reunion class of 1949 took 3rd place, raising $33,128 with 50% of its members participating. A total of $317,988 was raised through the Reunion Challenge campaign by our loyal reunion classes in support of the school. Our reunion classes truly lived up to the spirit of the theme for this year’s Alumni Celebration weekend: Make your class shine in 2009 – and shine they did!
Dr. Lynore Dutton DeSilets, EdD, BSN ’64, RN-BC, was honored as the 2009 Distinguished Alumna at the Alumni Day Luncheon. Dr. DeSilets is Assistant Dean and Director of Continuing Education in Nursing and Health Care in the College of Nursing at Villanova University. Commenting on the solid foundation her time at FPB gave her for her career, Dr. DeSilets humbly stated,“To receive a tribute from the school that allowed me to do what I have done in my career is really a great honor.”Dr. DeSilets was joined in the alumni awards celebration by Award for Excellence recipient Constance G. Visovsky, PhD ’02, RN, APRN-NP, and Alumni Association President’s Award recipient Betty Lou Mantzell, MA, BSN ’69, RN. Dr. Visovsky is an Associate Professor of Nursing and Director of the Master’s Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Nursing. Ms. Mantzell is a school nurse with more than 40 years of nursing and supervisory experience in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Currently, she provides nursing services to students at John Hay High School and Buhrer Elementary School.
As Matthew Schnupp, BSN ’07, was announced by Dean Wykle as the new president of the FPB Alumni Association, he looked down at his script and realized he had forgotten something. He then deadpanned, “And I’m supposed to say,‘I gladly accept...’” In immediate response, the crowd exploded with laughter.
Look for complete coverage of this special weekend, and a save-the-date message for Alumni Celebration 2010—sure to be a grand time—in the next issue of FPB Nursing.