Reinhardt University’s Dr. John A. Cauble School of Nursing and Health Sciences honored its Fall 2025 graduates on December 3, 2025. A traditional lamp and pinning ceremony recognized each student’s dedication, personal growth, and completion of the program.
Cohort 13 President Alexandra Lindsey (RU-Dec. 2025) stated, “To the faculty of Reinhardt University, thank you for shaping, challenging, and mentoring us. You taught us to think critically, practice safely, and how to function on less sleep than is legally recommended. We are stepping into a calling grounded in compassion, service, and courage. We will be a steady voice in emergencies, the reasoning hand in uncertainty, and the calm in somebody’s storm. Our journey through nursing school was not easy. That’s exactly why we’re ready.”
In celebration of nurses who deliver exceptional care, the ceremony included the presentation of DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Awards. Graduate Wykerra Davis (RU-Dec. 2025) received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Student. She demonstrated excellent nursing care during her clinicals, including a selfless act of providing dignity to a woman in labor, and putting the patient’s needs before her own. The DAISY recognition for Extraordinary Nurse Educator honored Assistant Professor of Nursing Jackie Harmon for her impact on each student through praying before tests, sincere hugs, and daily encouragement.
Each graduate received a lamp of knowledge and life, the official symbol of the nursing profession. They recited the Florence Nightingale nursing pledge, committing to providing care with compassion. Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of the nursing profession, was known as the lady with the lamp because of the rounds she made during the Crimean War while carrying a lamp. The cohort received pins bearing the lamp, and a minister blessed each of their hands.
One day prior, the nursing graduates rang the Tarpley Bell located in the Moore Plaza in front of the Fred H. and Mozelle Bates Tarpley Education Center. Each toll of the bell signifies the ending of one chapter and looking forward to starting another. All ten members of Cohort 13 have accepted nursing positions at hospitals across Georgia.
– By Suzy Alstrin
