On Saturday, May 18, 2024, 99 students graduated from Saint Anselm College as a part of the Jean School of Nursing & Health Sciences inaugural class. Dean Diane Uzarski, DNP, MPH, RN, read the names as graduates crossed the platform.
“The launch of the Jean School of Nursing and Health Sciences has become an important part of Saint Anselm College’s history,” said Uzarski. “It was an honor for me as dean to participate in our graduation by reading the names of our nursing graduates, and our school’s first class of public health and health science graduates!”
The 99-person graduating class included 96 nursing majors, two community and public health majors, and one health science major. During the baccalaureate service the day before, Isabella Stuzynski received the Mary R. Bruton Nursing Leadership Award and Julie Bond received the Community and Public Health Major Award.
Graduates are continuing their education and beginning employment at hospitals and organizations across New England including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Lahey Hospital, and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital.
Captain Mary Jo O’Dwyer Majors ’69, a nursing alumna, received an honorary degree for her service to her country and the college. Undergraduate Nursing Professor Deborah McCarter, Ph.D., RN, WHNP-BC, IBCLC, received Saint Anselm College’s 2024 American Association of University Professor’s (AAUP) Distinguished Faculty Award.
“Mary Jo O’Dwyer Majors views service to others as her life’s mission and has dedicated her adult lifetime to a distinguished career in military service as a member of the Navy Nurse Corps and as a civilian nurse leader for more than 43 years,” reads Majors’ citation. “Captain Majors exemplifies the mission of Saint Anselm College and the Jean School of Nursing and Health Sciences, giving a lifetime of service to our country, to various volunteer organizations and to her beloved alma mater.”
The college’s commencement exercises took place on the college quad where 507 students earned their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. This year the college is marking 50 years of full co-education. Alumna and recent Pulitzer Prize finalist Lauren Chooljian Baer ’10 addressed the class of 2024.