The University of Arkansas at Hope-Texarkana will honor this year's 30 Licensed Practical Nursing Program graduates with a pinning ceremony at 6 p.m. May 11 in the Hempstead Hall Theater.
The ceremony is a "time-honored nursing-school tradition," a press release states, and "signifies your official initiation into the brotherhood and sisterhood of nurses."
The history of the rite of passage is traced to the 12th century Crusades, when the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist tended to injured and sick crusaders. When new monks were initiated into the order, they vowed to serve these sick soldiers in a ceremony where each monk was given a Maltese cross, the first badges given to those who nurse.
The modern ceremony dates back to the 1860s when Florence Nightingale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George in recognition for her tireless service to the injured during the Crimean War. To share the honor, she, in turn, presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduates. By 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the U.S.
All nursing pins are unique. The UAHT pinning was designed in 1966 by Hazel Underwood, the first program director and instructor of the Practical Nursing Program. It has a cross symbolizing the knights who cared for the crusaders, the state of Arkansas and a circle representing the cycle of life.
The public is invited to attend.