Student Awards
Heather Dawn Reynolds Equity Award
The Heather Dawn Reynolds Equity Award is presented annually to a faculty, student, or staff member in the YSN community who embodies this ethos and shows an unwavering commitment to help YSN address diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. YSN is committed to recognizing, acknowledging, and combatting structural racism to tap into our foundational ethos: the responsibility to engage in intersectional education, practice, and scholarship that addresses the clinical, socioeconomic, and environmental issues plaguing the health of people and the planet.
Charles King Jr. Prize
This prize is awarded to a graduating student who is identified as a leading student, has demonstrated outstanding performance in scholarship, research and clinical practice, and through accomplishments in leadership of all aspects of study, has inspired an admiration for professional work.
Annie Goodrich Teaching Award
Ms. Goodrich, founder of YSN and the school’s first Dean, was an outstanding nursing leader and educator whose vision set the course for nursing education. Each year, students recognize an outstanding faculty member who carries on the tradition of nursing excellence in the field of nursing education.
Milton & Anne Sidney Prize
The Milton and Anne Sidney Prize is awarded to a graduating D.N.P. student whose research, in the judgment of the faculty, best exemplifies the school’s commitment to clinical scholarship and its mission to contribute to better health care for all people. Nominations are solicited from DNP faculty.
Student and Faculty Marshals and Banner Bearer
Each year the YSN graduating students select student marshals, a faculty marshal, and a banner bearer to participate in the Old Campus Commencement. The banner bearer and faculty marshal will lead YSN in the Commencement procession. The student marshals will lead their graduating class in the Commencement procession and go up to the dais and receive the “diplomas” from the Yale president – the actual diplomas are with the registrar. These individuals are people who have shown commitment to the YSN community and are chosen by the members of the graduating class. Requesting nominations from graduating YSN students.
Commencement Student Address
Each year, a graduating student is honored with the opportunity to provide a brief address. As you graduate from YSN, share your reflections, hopes and advice for your fellow graduates during this time and the importance for nursing and midwifery more than ever.
Submit your proposed speech here.
Creative Writing Awards
As nurses, we must do more to articulate what it is that we do, see, feel, and provide to our patients, families, and communities, so that our field will find its voice and speak to it in every forum possible. All students at Yale School of Nursing (YSN) are encouraged to write an account of what they do so that others will have an opportunity to peer into the world of nursing.