Eighteen current University of Maine at Fort Kent nursing students were inducted into the UMFK Nursing Honor Society, and eleven December 2024 nurse graduates were recognized at a special ceremony held on Thursday, August 15, 2024, in the UMFK Sports Center.
Faculty, staff, and students, along with family members and friends, gathered to honor the nursing honor society inductees and December 2024 nurse graduates. University President and Provost Dr. Deb Hedeen welcomed attendees and extended congratulations to the students.
Officially welcomed into the nursing honor society: Ngasu B. Agborsangaya (Fort Kent); Hannah M. Albert (Madawaska); Bolanle Victoria Ajuwon (Oyo State, Nigeria); Hailee J. Currier (Mapleton, ME); Leslie A. Curtis (Caribou, ME); Nancy J. Martin (Fort Kent); Rodiat Ogunneye (Dallas, TX); Precious O. Okechukwu (Huston, TX); Esther M. Onifade (Fort Kent) Darci R. Pelletier (Fort Kent); James C. Schaefer (Mapleton, ME); Kevonnie Smith (Portland, Jamaica); and Sergio A. Torres (San Diego, CA).
Officially welcomed into the nursing honor society, in absentia: Sara M. Adams (Thomaston, ME); Hannah P. Crocker (Stetson, ME); Molly K. Hillman (Fairfield, ME); Emily E. Shippee (Peabody, MA); and Michele Wintle-Newell (East Hampstead, NH).
All students have excelled in the four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at UMFK and are very active in campus activities.
The UMFK Nursing Honor Society was formed in the spring of 1998 for the purpose of recognizing and fostering academic excellence and scholarship among students, alumni, and community leaders in nursing.
Students with a grade point average of 3.0 or above, in the top 35% of their graduating class, and who represent the attributes of scholarship leadership, community service, and character. These are the attributes that the UMFK Nursing Honor Society recognizes upon request of induction.
The recognition of December 2024 nurse graduates: Ngasu B. Agborsangaya; Bolanle Victoria Ajuwon; Hailee J. Currier; Angel R. Maxwell (Campden Park, St. Vincent and the Grenadines); Rodiat Ogunneye; Ogwo Ogwo (Eagle Lake); Precious O. Okechukwu; Esther M. Onifade; James C. Schaefer; Sergio A. Torres; and Casey E. Veilleux (Whitefield, NH).
This fall, the UMFK Nursing Honor Society will join the University of Maine (Orono campus), the University of Maine at Augusta campus, and Husson University to become part of their Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society chapter at large. Some of the benefits for members include grant-offering partners, education and research conferences, online nursing continuing professional development, an online digital service that collects, preserves, and disseminates digital materials in both abstract and full-text format, career development, and leadership programs.
“Our current members are eligible to apply for membership to Sigma Theta Tau; they will demonstrate that they meet eligibility criteria easily because we tailored our honor society based upon Sigma’s criteria. Starting this fall, we will become a member school,” said Director of Nursing Dr. Erin Soucy.