SALT LAKE CITY–During Westminster Weekend in September, 20 members of the Class of 1977 nursing program were welcomed back to campus, reconnecting with one another and revisiting the places that shaped the nurses they have become.
The reunion started Friday evening with dinner at Squatters Brew Pub in Sugar House. Though it had been years since many of the alums had seen one another, the time apart didn’t seem to matter as memories, stories, and life updates were shared around the table.
Celebrating Decades of Impact
Saturday brought the Class of 1977 to St. Mark’s Hospital, a place that many of them know particularly well. Westminster nursing students complete hours of clinical and practical training as part of their program, and St. Mark’s has partnered with Westminster to provide real-world experience to Westminster nursing students for more than 50 years.
For many of these nursing alums, St. Mark’s was the setting of their first experiences in real patient care, allowing them to apply their classroom skills and develop the confidence and competencies they would carry into their careers. This time, they explored the facilities as experienced healthcare professionals looking back at those formative months of training.
The hospital has changed considerably since 1977, and the alumni had plenty of in-depth questions for their tour guide. They compared what they remembered with what they saw, pointing out familiar elements of a very different health care environment. A particularly meaningful stop on the tour was at a wall of history featuring Westminster’s longstanding connection with St. Mark’s, a powerful reminder of the sustained impact of Westminster’s nursing program.
Later that day, the group further reflected on this impact as they honored faculty emeritus Shirley Knox with a Nightingale Tribute, an official ceremony recognizing the lifelong contributions of a nurse and symbolically releasing them from their life’s work. Volunteer members of the local Nurses Honor Guard led the brief proceedings dressed in traditional nursing garb.
Shirley, a beloved professor who taught and mentored many of the Class of 1977 during her time at Westminster, was unable to attend the weekend reunion in its entirety, but she vividly remembered her students during their visit. And they remembered her: decades after leaving her classroom, Shirley’s students still had stories to tell about the professor who had helped shape them and the impact she had on their education and their lives.
New Methods, Same Purpose
Back on campus, the alumni got a behind-the-scenes tour of Westminster’s current nursing facilities, where they explored the technology and training available to today’s students. One of the biggest changes they noticed was the availability of high-tech mannequins and other sophisticated equipment designed to simulate real clinical situations in a controlled, repeatable way.
The Class of 1977 reminisced that during their training, your practice patient was often the student sitting next to you—even when the day’s lesson was how to correctly place an IV.
Strides in nursing education and technology may have revolutionized the ways nurses gain their practical skills, but for the reunion group, seeing today’s nursing program was more than marveling at how things have changed. Rather, it was an opportunity to recognize how Westminster has sustained the same heart in its nursing education for over 50 years.
Just like Westminster’s nursing students of 1977, today’s students are still being prepared to enter their profession with knowledge, skill, compassion, and a deep commitment to caring for others in a field that continues to evolve.
For these nursing alumni, coming back to campus was not simply a trip down memory lane. It was a chance to revisit the beginnings of their careers, catch up with friends and colleagues, and see the growth and opportunities that Westminster still extends to the students who came after them
Special thanks to Sheryl Steadman, Dean of the School Nursing and Health Sciences, Andrea Conrett, Undergraduate Programs Coordinator, and Chris Chytraus ’77, liaison with St. Mark’s Hospital for their work to make this reunion possible.
