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Class of 2015 Graduates at Mississippi College School of Nursing


Some of the 36 MC School of Nursing graduates pose for a picture at Nelson Hall moments before Friday's commencement.

Kara Beth Linn is soon bound for a new job at the Delta Regional Medical Center.

Working in the Greenville hospital’s emergency room this summer is just the first step in a nursing career for the bright Mississippi College graduate from Magee, Arkansas.

Kara Beth graduated Magna Cum Laude at the MC School of Nursing on May 8 during ceremonies at Swor Auditorium. Thirty-six students received bachelor of science degrees.

“My mom was a nurse and I wanted to follow in her footsteps – to help people and their families,” Linn said moments before the spring commencement began in Nelson Hall on Friday afternoon.

Asked to evaluate her education at the MC School of Nursing, the Arkansan summed it up this way. “It was wonderful. You learn Christian caring. You don’t get it at every program.”

Ceremonies at the Baptist-affiliated university made history on the Clinton campus. It was the last one with Mary Jean Padgett presiding as dean at the School of Nursing. Padgett was among MC’s first School of Nursing graduates in 1973.

Students described Padgett as an extraordinary dean who was a devoted friend, excellent mentor, and terrific administrator for years.

“She was great with us,” said Magna Cum Laude graduate Sydney Massengale, 22, of Hattiesburg. “She was so personable.”

A superb MC School of Nursing dean for two decades, Padgett is retiring after 33 years at MC, including service as a faculty member. In early August, she will be succeeded by Dr. Kimberly Sharp, who’s now dean of nursing and allied health at Louisiana College.

A native of Canada, Sharp is thrilled about serving at Mississippi College following her nursing leadership role at Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College.

Serving at Mississippi College, she said in a telephone interview from the Pineville, Louisiana campus will allow her to continue to fully integrate her faith into her work. “I will use nursing as a ministry for Christ.”

Sharp and Padgett have chatted by phone, but the two nursing leaders will continue to talk face to face in the weeks ahead.

“I value legacy a great deal,” Sharp said. “There are things I can glean from her,” adds the 30-year nursing educator. “Dean Padgett has a wealth of knowledge I don’t want to lose.”

Like many of her MC classmates, Massengale, 22, sees nursing as a calling. “It’s my lifelong goal to help people, spread the word of God and show Christ’s love through our actions.”

Several of the new MC School of Nursing graduates come from the university’s hometown of Clinton. They include: Thomas Edison Bobo III, Denisa Breland Davis, Veronica Rosa Dorsey, and Karri Noel Fowler. Other grads from the area included Lauren Nicole Evans of Ridgeland, Stephanie Lenee Lofland and Danielle Elizabeth Hardy, both of Madison, and Emily Elise Alston and Tiffany Louisville, both of Jackson.

Graduate School commencement ceremonies are set for Friday evening on the Clinton campus.

Former Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark addresses undergraduate commencements on Saturday at the A.E. Wood Coliseum. Clark is retiring as chief of the state Board for Community and Junior Colleges. He’s a former MC history instructor.

The Mississippi College School of Law graduation will be 10 a.m. on May 15 at First Baptist Church Jackson.