Graduating nurses to get drive-thru pinning ceremony

The Kramer School of Nursing at Oklahoma City University will host a pinning ceremony for graduating nursing students from 2 to 4 p.m. May 7 in the school’s parking lot at N.W. 26th Street and Florida Avenue.
Normally a ceremony held in an auditorium, this year’s version will be a drive-thru experience in order to practice social distancing. Students will remain in their vehicles and line up to receive their pins, programs and any cords they’ve been awarded from faculty members.
The World Health Organization is recognizing 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, boosting the relevance of this year’s ceremony as many of the graduating nurses move immediately to the front lines of the pandemic.
Pinning ceremonies are a time-honored nursing school tradition with roots dating back to the Crusades of the 12th century, when the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist awarded a Maltese cross to new monks who were training to tend to injured crusaders. Nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale reignited the tradition in the 1860s by presenting medals of excellence to her brightest graduating students.