Newman University will honor Spring and Summer 2010 graduates with a variety of ceremonies. Graduation festivities begin with Nurses Pinning at 5 p.m. on May 14 in Performance Hall of De Mattias Fine Arts Center. The event, which is held in December and May of each year for graduating nursing students, is a tradition in the nursing discipline that dates back approximately 130 years in the United States. At Newman, the director of the School of Nursing and Allied Health places nursing pins on graduate candidates’ lapels as a symbol of their completion of the baccalaureate of science in nursing (BSN) program. The Newman pin is unique to the university, and was designed by the first graduating BSN class at what was then Kansas Newman College.The pinning ceremony will also feature the naming of the Distinguished BSN Graduate Award recipient.
Baccalaureate Mass, a special service for graduates and families, will also take place May 14 at 7 p.m. in St. John’s Chapel in Sacred Heart Hall. Mass will be followed by a reception at approximately 8 p.m. in the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center, inside the Dugan Library and Campus Center on the Newman campus.
Commencement will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 15 at Central Community Church located at 6100 West Maple. The Commencement ceremony will include the presentation of honorary degrees to two notable and accomplished members of the extended Newman community, whose lives and work reflect exemplary dedication to one of the university’s four Core Values: Catholic Identity, Culture of Service, Academic Excellence, and Global Perspective. At the Spring 2010 Commencement, the degree – a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa – will be awarded to Herm Bachrodt and Betty Adams, ASC.
Bachrodt launched and was the first coach of the men’s basketball program at Sacred Heart College and later was the institution’s first athletics director. He will be honored for service. Sister Betty Adams will be honored as a model of global perspective for her work with international students at Newman and her tenure as a translator facilitating all communications, written and verbal, for the ASC congregation abroad.
Commencement will also include an address by Newman Assistant Professor of English Marguerite Regan, Ph.D. Regan received the 2009 Newman University Teaching Excellence Award.
Newman’s Occupational Therapy Assistant students will be recognized with a pinning ceremony at 2 p.m. on May 15 in Performance Hall of De Mattias Fine Arts Center, with a reception following in the Gorges Atrium. This ceremony honors the completion of coursework and the beginning of two professional internships for students in the program. Upon completion of the internships, students prepare for a December 2010 graduation.
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