BCC May Bring Back All Health Science Pinning Ceremonies
It's been quite a week at Bristol Community College.
After realizing that their traditional nurses' pinning ceremony was going to be canceled, BCC nursing students took to social media and contacted Fun 107 for help.
BCC was concerned about the fact that a number of different pinning ceremonies might have been harming attendance at the actual commencement. They were watching family, friends, and even some students attending the pinning ceremonies and foregoing the actual graduation day. The school tried to correct the problem by canceling almost all of the pinnings last year. The nurses' pinning was the only one remaining, however when nursing students began to realize that they'd be no pinning ceremony this spring, it caused a firestorm of students, alums, and nursing professionals decrying the decision.
One nursing student anonymously shared the students' point of view on the Rock and Fox Show. It was an emotional one, and the public seemed to rally behind the students. Momentum was built. Within 36 hours of the call airing on Fun 107, the college softened its stance and extended an olive branch to the nursing students. BCC invited nursing student leaders and faculty to join them at the table to discuss a way to work out a way to make a pinning ceremony work for all parties involved.
This announcement was made last night. Immediately, students from some of the other BCC Health Sciences were questioning why their pinning ceremonies were canceled, but the nursing school students still had hope of retaining it. They were saying that it was unfair to other health science students.
BCC reacted quickly. As of this morning, the school has announced that they will be having the same types of meetings with student leaders from all of the school's health sciences including Medical Lab and Dental Hygiene.
A memo to the students this morning reads:
I am pleased to share with you that we have reached out to students to let them know that I will be pulling together a collaborative group of faculty, students and administrators to find a creative solution that will honor the nursing profession and take some new ideas into account. We will need to do this for all of the health sciences that had pinnings.