Last week, the Faculty of Health Studies saw two professors, Dr. Kathryn Hyndman and Dr. Fran Racher, retire. Both Hyndman and Racher were members of the Brandon General Hospital School of Nursing graduating class of 1972, and when the Faculty of Health Studies began the Bachelor of Nursing Program in 2004, Hyndman came back to teach. Hyndman and Racher, who was until last week the Coordinator of the Psychiatric Nursing Program, along with other members of their graduating class decided that rather than receiving retirement gifts, they would give one: the Brandon General Hospital School of Nursing Scholarship for nursing and psych nursing students in the years to come.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Often at retirements gifts are given, and I thought it might be nice to do this for future students instead of receiving gifts,” Hyndman said in a January 11th press release. “Fran had a similar idea, so we reached out to some of our classmates, and the warmth and sincerity of their replies convinced us that the scholarship was the right idea.”
The scholarship was announced at Hyndman and Racher’s retirement dinner, and both made contributions to it. Over $5000 has been raised so far, which will be matched by the Manitoba Scholarship and Bursary Initiative. This will fund an annual endowment of roughly $450. Hyndman and Racher have been reaching out to their classmates, as well as teachers and graduates from other years to grow the fund. Anyone with a connection to the program is welcome to donate, and any contributions made before March 31st, 2017, may be eligible to be matched by the Manitoba Scholarship and Bursary Initiative.
Initially, the award will alternate between a Nursing student and a Psychiatric Nursing student with the hope that the award is able to be given to a student from each program in the near future. The Brandon General Hospital School of Nursing was established from 1882 until 1995, and Hyndman has stated that the graduates of the program have made a massive impact on the community: “BGH grads have provided leadership and professional nursing to countless patients and their families and communities in Westman and beyond. We’re very proud of the school and the people who made it so special.”
Dr. W. Dean Care, Dean of Health Studies, said in the January 11th press release, “I would like to thank Fran and Kathryn for the commitment they have made to our students during their time at BU as well as their generosity in helping future generations of students achieve their goals.”
For more information about donating to BU, check out www.brandonu.ca/give, or call 1-204-727-7374.
Republished from The Quill print edition, Volume 107, Issue 18, January 17, 2017.