Gateway Community College (GCC) celebrates the Class of 2016’s new nursing candidates who received their nursing pins at the annual Nursing Pinning Ceremony at the Omni Hotel. The May 16 ceremony at the Omni Hotel in New Haven marks the transition from student to professional for 88 nursing majors.

Since its inception in 2002, Gateway Community College’s nursing program has quadrupled in size, producing more than 640 graduates. The program features award-winning faculty and has been accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, an organization nationally recognized as a specialized accrediting agency for both post-secondary and higher degree programs in nursing education. It also is the first program of its kind in the state community college system to offer courses and clinical rotations in the evening, making nursing a career option for working students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to pursue it.

A time-honored tradition, pinning ceremonies trace their origins to nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, who received the Cross of St. George from Britain’s Queen Victoria in 1855 for her service in caring for injured British soldiers. When special nursing schools were later founded using Nightingale’s principles and practices, the awarding of pins and medals to outstanding graduates became increasingly common until it was eventually established as a rite of passage from student to practitioner.