On November 4, after a two-year hiatus, the School of Nursing and Health Studies revived its Alumni Weekend and Homecoming Barbecue in the S.H.A.R.E.™ Courtyard. Under clear, sunny skies punctuated by gusts of wind, visitors munched on sliders, hot dogs, ice cream, and other treats, while a DJ kept the crowd moving.
“It is awesome to have our SONHS family of students, alumni, faculty, and staff back together to celebrate,” said Dean Cindy L. Munro, who attended with her husband, Brett Stevenson. “What a joyful beginning to this long-awaited weekend.”
Among the dozens of attendees were Oscar Morales, B.S. ’75, M.D. ’79, the school’s voluntary leader for the Ever Brighter campaign; his daughter, Jessica Morales, B.S.N. ’18, a member of UM’s Young Alumni Leaders Council and nurse anesthesia student at SONHS; and Renee Longini, B.S.N. ’09, D.N.P. ’16, current president of the SONHS Alumni Association.
University of Miami Alumni Association President Devang Desai, A.B. '97, J.D. '03, provided welcoming remarks. “It’s really nice to visit with our incredible first responders and first-line workers who help us, so thank you very much for what you do,” Desai began.
“It is awesome to also speak with Renee [Longini],” he continued. “Renee has an incredible agenda planned to get more and more nurses and graduates from our school engaged with the alumni association and giving back their time, talent, and treasure to the School of Nursing and Health Studies. So, Renee, thank you for all you’re about to do for the next two years! …. As they always say here on homecoming weekend, ‘Game on!’”
Assistant professor of clinical Christopher Weidlich, BSN ’94, MSN ’03, PhD ’13, showed his ’Cane pride off in a bright orange-and-green, UM-themed Hawaiian shirt and spent the evening talking with students like Christina Badiola and Opal Reyes, both of whom are set to graduate in December from the accelerated BSN program. “The program is tough, but I’ve never been so excited to learn,” said Badiola. “It’s challenging in a good way,” added Reyes.
Another accelerated BSN student, São Paulo native Rosana Leite, enjoyed some much-needed respite from intense studying by savoring a strawberry sundae with vanilla ice cream and meeting new friends. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown inspired Leite to leave China, where she was teaching history at the time, and move to Miami to start nursing school at SONHS this past May.
Alumni Weekend and Homecoming gave her the chance to bond with fellow Brazilian Hudson Santos, the Dolores J. Chambreau Endowed Chair in Nursing, as well as several of her peers and members of the SONHS staff. “I keep saying I need to go to the library,” she admitted, “but we are having such a good time talking. These people are so much fun!”
See the event photo gallery.
