Facebook highlights UMaine nursing graduates, pinning ceremony

Facebook featured University of Maine School of Nursing graduates Kate Ford and Sierra Austin and highlighted the school’s virtual pinning ceremony in its video “#Graduation2020: Facebook and Instagram Celebrate the Class of 2020.” “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to offer in-person commencement ceremonies, so we celebrated them in a beautiful virtual pinning ceremony,” said Kelley Strout, interim director of the school. Thirty-eight undergraduate students graduated from the School of Nursing two weeks early so they could pursue their licensure sooner and, ultimately, expedite their entry into the workforce. “My mom was able to pin me. She is a nurse herself, so this meant so much to us,” Ford said in Facebook’s video.