Linfield University’s School of Nursing honored graduating prelicensure students during its Spring Pinning Ceremony on Sunday, May 31, on the McMinnville campus. The ceremony honored 228 graduates — 200 earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and 28 earning a Master of Science in Nursing.
Pinning ceremonies mark the completion of a student’s nursing education and the transition into professional practice. Each graduate receives a unique school pin representing their program and selects a family member, professor or friend to award it. Parents, children, spouses, partners, grandparents and friends joined graduates on stage, making the ceremony a deeply personal celebration of accomplishment and support.
Linfield’s School of Nursing offers a traditional two-year BSN program, a one-year accelerated BSN program and Oregon’s first Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing (MEPN) program. Designed for individuals with a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field, the 15-month MEPN program allows students to enter the profession with an MSN.
Honoring three unique cohorts
In addition to receiving the Linfield School of Nursing pin, the ceremony also included recognitions unique to each cohort.
Instead of a guest keynote speaker, students selected a classmate from each cohort to reflect on their nursing school experience. Each cohort also chose a faculty member to announce graduates as they received their pins on stage.
For TBSN:
- Student speaker: Kelsie Williams ’26 of Sammamish, Washington
- Faculty reader: Scott Campbell, assistant professor of practice
For ABSN:
- Student speaker: Amy Mendez-Vargas ’26 of Beaverton
- Faculty reader: Anne Schwartz, assistant professor of practice
For MEPN:
- Student speaker: Jess McGough ’26 of Portland
- Faculty reader: Kristen Krum, assistant professor of practice
Pitching, pivots and patients
After a career-ending softball injury, Kelsie Williams ’26
found a new calling in nursing.
While each speaker reflected on accomplishments and challenges unique to their cohort, McGough’s comments on the MEPN experience resonated with all.
“Nursing school was never an individual journey,” they said. “It was, for us, profoundly community-centered.”
In closing, McGough invoked the symbolism of Linfield’s acorn tradition for new students and the McMinnville campus’ many references to oak trees.
“Roots were planted within each other — not just professionally, but personally. As we leave this place and move into hospitals, clinics, emergency departments, labor rooms, etc., we carry those roots with us,” McGough said. “We carry the lessons we learned from one another. We carry the humility of not knowing everything, the courage to keep learning anyway and the understanding that good nursing is never done alone.”
Awarding care, compassion and knowledge in nursing
In addition to their pins, several students received special recognition during the ceremony for academic achievement, leadership and professional excellence.
The Senior Honors in Nursing Award celebrates exceptional performance in clinical practice and in the classroom, with honorees earning a 3.5 or higher GPA in required nursing courses. Congratulations to:
- Taylor Vandenborn of Bend (TBSN)
- Sooyang Joo of Lake Oswego (ABSN)
- Annette Crawford of Scappoose (MEPN)
The Professional Excellence in Nursing Award recognizes students who excel in leadership, scholarship and the human science of nursing. It is given to students who are critical thinkers, have excellent communication skills and show high levels of care, among other criteria. Congratulations to:
- Cleo Brocius-Steininger of Portland (TBSN)
- Mason Love of Portland (ABSN)
- Cassandra Zhou of Elk Grove, California (MEPN)
The Wilma Pope Alumni Award honors a Good Samaritan nursing graduate and former educator in the Emanuel and Good Samaritan diploma schools of nursing. Reserved for TBSN graduates, this award is given to students who demonstrate high levels of caring, clinical competence, professionalism and leadership in student organizations. This year, the Wilma Pope Alumni Award went to two students: Liliana Bolio Dominguez of Hillsboro and Cynthia Morales Ornelas of Salem.
Capping off the student recognition was The DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nursing Students. This national honor celebrates student nurses who demonstrate outstanding clinical care and deep compassion for patients and families. This spring’s recipients were:
- Alyssa Rubi of Seattle, Washington (TBSN)
- Steven Duran of Los Angeles, California (ABSN)
- Christopher Loverro of Portland (MEPN)
Joining a legacy of nursing excellence
In his remarks, Dean Paul Smith encouraged graduates to view nursing not as a destination, but as a profession defined by continual growth and learning.
“This profession is built step-by-step, experience-by-experience, shift-by-shift,” Smith said. “Each step shapes the nurse, leader and professional that you are becoming. That is what growth in this profession looks like. You will keep learning. You will keep growing. You will keep becoming.”
Smith also reminded graduates that nursing careers often take unexpected paths, with opportunities extending far beyond hospital settings into community health, schools, clinics, leadership, policy and education.
As graduates left the ceremony wearing their new pins, they also joined a nursing tradition that stretches back more than a century.
Linfield’s School of Nursing was created in 1982, through the merger of Linfield College and the Good Samaritan Hospital’s nursing education program. The Good Samaritan nursing program traces its roots to 1890 and founder Emily Loveridge. With this heritage, Linfield’s program is the oldest continuously operated nursing school in the Pacific Northwest.
The 228 graduates recognized during Sunday’s ceremony now carry that legacy forward as they begin careers serving patients and communities throughout Oregon and beyond.
