BSN grads dive back in
body copy plus Chicago BSN Class of 2022 Heading link
For the first time in three years, UIC College of Nursing bachelor’s degree students revived the decades-old and delightfully odd tradition of celebrating graduation by jumping into a pool in their scrubs.
Little is known about the tradition’s origins, other than that it began at the Chicago campus sometime in the early 1980s and took root by simple word of mouth, each class of undergraduate students passing it on to the next.
BSN students at the UIC Nursing Urbana campus launched the tradition there in 2008. At UIC Nursing’s newest campus, in Springfield, the BSN Class of 2019 was the first to take part. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were also the only Springfield class to take the plunge until this year.
“The pandemic certainly took a toll on us,” said Adam Saleh, graduating student and chief organizer of this year’s event in Chicago. “Jumping into the pool represents an opportunity to manifest the excitement, happiness and relief of finishing the program and entering the workforce, where we will have an opportunity to care for the most vulnerable among us.”