May 21, 2004 marked pinning day for the first class of the new Calvin College Department of Nursing. This class had the honor and responsibility of making decisions about the pin that will be worn by present and future graduates of the program. The class members and faculty had input in the design, colors, symbols, language, and layout of their nursing pin. Receiving the pins was the culmination of the ceremony, held in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Several hundred parents, family members and friends filled the seats to watch their graduate receive this symbol of their nursing school alma mater. 
Since pinning was only two days prior to graduation, families from some distance were able to be present for both pinning and graduation. Previously this was often not possible because pinning and graduation were a week apart.
The ceremony, planned by the students, included their thanks to many individuals responsible for the success of the students and the program. Three of the students demonstrated, through graphic photos on the large FAC screen, what it means to be a Calvin Nursing Student, including such shots as uniform pants described as ?one size fits no one,? and the ease with which a student can move from cleaning a bedpan to eating a bowl of bean soup without batting an eyelash. The address to the students and their guests was given by Dr. Mary Molewyk Doornbos sent them out to write the next chapter in their book. Following the receipt of nursing pins, the students and audience concluded the ceremony singing "My Friends May You Grow in Grace," a fitting conclusion to their education at Calvin, just as it is the conclusion to the Sunday evening LOFT worship services where they learned it. Then, as each pair of students exited the stage, they lit a candle from a large pillar candle as a reminder of the ceremony with which they began their nursing education. At that time, back in the fall of 2002, a Celebration of Nursing Convocation introduced the text from 2 Timothy 1:6-7 "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline."
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