Accelerated Nursing Program Celebrates Inaugural Cohort Graduation
On September 5, Assumption’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in nursing (ABSN) program celebrated a major milestone: the first cohort of students officially graduated.
Four students, Devon Klinka, Keri Lowe, Jayme Pruitt, and Julie Tenney, successfully completed and received their ABSN degrees after only 16 months. Each had already completed a bachelor’s degree in another discipline but decided to pursue a nursing degree on an accelerated path through Assumption’s program.
“What is remarkable about your cohort is that while your personal, professional, and educational backgrounds vary, you share something in common—and that is an uncommon commitment to the vocation of nursing,” said President Greg Weiner. “You are entering a field that is both accelerated and accelerating. Accelerated because there are many days when the hours spent busily caring for your patients will flash by in an instant and accelerating because the demand for qualified healthcare professionals, especially those like you, continues to grow.”
Before receiving their diplomas from President Weiner, the students were celebrated with time-honored traditions that marked their entry into the nursing profession by receiving their pin and having their hands blessed.
“Your work as a nurse will take strong hands, hands governed by the strength of mind to apply the science of nursing in ways that heal your patients’ physical suffering. Hands guided by the strength of heart to apply the art of nursing in ways that soothe your patients’ all-too-human psychic suffering,” said Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marc Guerra. “Your work as a nurse will be rewarded—rewarded in healing you’ll help bring about in your patients, rewarded in the seen and unseen virtues you will quietly cultivate in yourself as you practice the art and science of nursing habitually, day in and day out.”
Jennifer Morton, dean of the Froelich School of Nursing, emphasized the pride faculty felt for the graduating students and reflected on the significance of the nursing pins that the graduates would soon wear.
“The faculty and I share immense joy with you and your loved ones and look forward to your future in nursing practice. I’m not alone in feeling safer knowing that you will be there to care for us,” she said. “Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, formalized the tradition of giving badges or pins to graduates from her London nursing school. The pin now symbolizes the student’s dedication, transition into professional practice, and connection to the profession’s long legacy of compassionate service. We know you will all wear these pins proudly.”
The graduates then had their hands blessed, to honor the healing that nurses provide through the act of touch, and recited the Caregiver’s Prayer, led by Father Dennis Gallagher, A.A., vice president for mission.
Keri Lowe ’25, chosen by her peers to give the student address, concluded by reminiscing on their time in the program.
“I’m sure every nurse has a story about a time when they doubted themselves. A time when they thought, ‘I wonder if this is all a mistake.’ I know the four of us had that moment many times over the past 16 months. Eventually we found clarity, and not in our ease but in our effort. We learned that doubt doesn’t mean failure. It means that we care enough to want to do better,” Lowe said. “To the faculty, the staff, the school nurses, the preceptors: thank you for believing in us even when we weren’t sure we believed in ourselves. Thank you for showing us that nursing isn’t just a profession—it’s a way of showing up in the world with resilience, heart, and hopefully a really comfortable pair of shoes.”