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Brett VanSlyke (right), a 2012 graduate of OCC's Nursing program and a nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital, pinned his daughter Rachel during the ceremony.
Brett VanSlyke (right), a 2012 graduate of OCC's Nursing program and a nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital, pinned his daughter Rachel during the ceremony.

The accomplishments of graduating students in Onondaga Community College's Nursing degree program were celebrated during a Nurse Pinning ceremony. The event was held May 20 in the Frederick Marvin and Ernst Schuh Recital Hall.

The Nurse Pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcome into the Nursing profession. The pin represents the hard work and dedication students displayed while completing their coursework and clinicals.

Usually students are "pinned" by one of their professors. However, during this ceremony two students were pinned by a parent who also chose the nursing profession. Rachel VanSlyke was pinned by her father, Brett VanSlyke who is a 2012 graduate of OCC's Nursing program and a cardiac nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital. Also pinned by a parent was Gregory Kranz, who was met on stage by his mother Catherine who worked as a nurse for 42 years before retiring from the VA Emergency Department last December.

The VanSlyke and Kranz family stories were highlighted in television news stories broadcast by Spectrum News 1 and WSYR TV, Newschannel 9 which you can view by clicking on these links.

Greg Kranz (left) hugged his mother Catherine (right) after she presented him with his Nursing pin.
Greg Kranz (left) and his mother Catherine (right) embraced after she presented him with his Nursing pin.

Congratulations to the Nursing students in OCC's class of 2022! Their names are listed below.

  • Cassandra Andersen
  • Heather Barber
  • Gwenyth Bennett
  • Megan Buchanan
  • Kelsie Burke
  • Melissa Burke
  • Kendall Carroll
  • Chenfei Cheng
  • Ashley Dickson
  • Nicole Frank
  • Mary Godin
  • Iryna Gura
  • Paige Harding
  • Amy Harmsworth-Morrissey
  • Retiring OCC President Dr. Casey Crabill (left) was presented with an honorary Nursing pin by Nursing Professor Lee Berg (right).
    Retiring OCC President Dr. Casey Crabill (left) was presented with an honorary Nursing pin by Professor Lee Berg (right).
    Ethan Hoffman
  • Lillian Ingalls
  • Anastasia Karandeyev
  • Greg Kranz
  • Callie Lalor
  • Selena Lupkowski
  • Jenna Masello
  • Tracey Milazzo
  • Carolyn Mondo
  • Jenny Nguyen
  • Amy Pauldine
  • Shannon Priest
  • Hannah Robles
  • Bianca Sanchez
  • Kylee Scobell
  • Stacy Sickler
  • Alison Smith
  • Connie Taylor
  • Viktoriia Tereshchuk
  • Iva Perez Torres
  • Brett Trainor
  • Aurela Ujkaj
  • Andon Usev
  • Kira Vanhoeven
  • Rachel VanSlyke
Keywords
OCC
Onondaga Community College