News @ VCU School of Pharmacy

Class of 2012 dons white coats

To read the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s story about VCU School of Pharmacy’s 2008 White Coat Ceremony, please click here.

Despite threats made by Hurricane Hanna, the class of 2012 officially became members of VCU School of Pharmacy Sept. 6.

By the time the White Coat Ceremony began at Greater Richmond Convention Center, the hard, steady rains had given in to a blustery, sauna-like afternoon.

“Welcome to the White Coat Ceremony … or maybe we should call it the wet-coat ceremony,” said Dean Victor Yanchick to laughs from the near standing-room-only audience of students, family, friends and faculty.

Yanchick’s opening remarks concentrated on nine professional behaviors a student pharmacist should exhibit, ranging from basic ethics to nondiscrimination and from compassion to respect.

The white coat isn’t magic, he said, but it will clearly identify its owners as professionals, ready to help others, from one of the best pharmacy schools in the world.

“If you get into trouble, the headlines will read, ‘Student pharmacist from VCU arrested,’” he said. “I don’t want to read that … and neither do you! … Each and every fiber of your white coat is woven with integrity.”

As Thomas Reinders, associate dean for admissions and student services, called out their names, students threaded their way around the room, climbed the few steps onstage and presented their coats to Yanchick.

A tall James Blackburn had to bend slightly to receive his coat; Yanchick kiddingly stood on tiptoe as Blackburn left the stage. Drew Johnson’s wing span was so wide, he pulled the curtain backdrop back as he opened his arms to shrug into his coat.

The dean left the stage to present Lindsey Madures her coat, Madures having been temporarily sidelined. Drew Nickerson struck a pose for the photographer, and some students – including Ashley Savage, Elizabeth Son and Gayle Tuckett – got a literal shout-out from family and friends.

As he did with Noah Greenberg’s coat, Yanchick patted several into place, beaming as if he were among the proud parents.

A pretty-in-pink baby – content to listen to the clapping from her blanket on the floor – started to gurgle just as Reinders announced the last (alpha order) name: Bryan Yumori.

Deanna Flora, student body president, administered the Oath of a Student Pharmacist.

“I hope I see each and every one of you four years from now,” said Yanchick. To accept the challenge of change in the profession is one of the most exciting aspects to which students can look forward, he said.

Angela and Gabriel Igunbor had traveled that morning from Fayetteville, N.C., to see their daughter Charity don her white coat.

Charity Igunbor, who now hails from Atlanta, was born in Nigeria.

“It was so good, I’m so happy,” said her mother. “I was praising God."

“And,” she said, “the ceremony was well-organized.”

Charity Igunbor’s father was interested in the fact that Yanchick had mentioned change as part of the student pharmacists’ future.

“It’s a political thing, you know,” said Igunbor. With Barack Obama running for office, he said, the concept of change has become an inspiration, particularly for African-Americans.

Brad Martin, another member of the class of 2012, and his wife Kim just moved here from Utah. They’re also the parents of Milah, the five-and-a-half-month-old who’d behaved so well during the White Coat Ceremony.

That would make Milah a potential member of the class of … er, uh, 2034? (Calling Dr. Reinders!)

As students chatted with their families and friends at a post-ceremony reception, some of those white coats looked a tad roomy.

That’s OK. As Yanchick said in his earlier remarks, “You are going to grow into that coat … along with the people before you.”

Submitted By:
Cynthia McMullen
9/8/2008