The 2014 fundraising event hosted by the UAB School of Nursing Board of Visitors drew strong student and faculty praise and gratitude.
“I left this event feeling so fortunate to be a student in the UAB School of Nursing and grateful to the Board of Visitors for their support of our School,” said Meghan Pattison, a 20-year-old second-semester BSN student from Peachtree City, Ga. “It was encouraging to me to see that members of the Board of Visitors believe in us as students, that they believe what we will be doing as nurses will make a real difference, and that they are investing in our future.”
Accolades also came from faculty member Aimee Chism Holland, DNP. “I am fortunate to be among faculty who have the opportunity to teach UAB’s great nursing students,” she said. “I cannot express how powerful it was to attend this fundraiser and see how people in the community support what we do at the UAB School of Nursing.”
These comments were in response to the 19th fundraiser that the Board of Visitors community-support group has hosted during its 22-year history. This year’s event, the third with the theme Applause for the Cause, was held May 13 at the Virginia Samford Theatre and netted more than $70,000 to support the School.
“I loved the joy and spirit of the evening,” said Doreen C. Harper, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair in Nursing. She said that everywhere she turned she could feel strong support for the School.
BOV Chair Robert E. “Bobby” Luckie III commended fellow board members for their continued support, calling them “dedicated, conscientious and hard-working.” Jeannie Horton, the School’s Senior Director of Development, said these fundraisers “have opened people’s eyes even more” to the importance of nursing and to UAB’s mission in educating outstanding nurses. 
Applause 2014 began with a theatre courtyard reception. It was followed by a comedic performance about womanhood starring actresses Lee Ann “Sunny” Brown, Kristi Tingle Higginbotham, Jan D. Hunter and Kristin Staskowski. For the third consecutive year the Applause performance was directed by Virginia Samford Theatre President Cathy Rye Gilmore.
As a prelude to the performance the audience saw a video featuring five individuals—faculty member Aimee Holland, DNP, and BOV members Bruce E. Burns, MD; Eileen S. Meyer, CRNP; Barrett Brock MacKay; Juanzetta S. Flowers, PhD; and Fay Belt Ireland. Each explained his or her reasons for believing in and supporting the UAB School of Nursing.
