Honoring Sadie Cabaniss and Clinical Faculty Excellence
On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the VCU School of Nursing buzzed with activity as alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends came together for the Mahoney-Hamner Alumni Lecture to celebrate the dedication of Sadie Heath Cabaniss Hall. This marked the culmination of the Cabaniss Leadership Challenge, a $4 million fundraising project for the School of Nursing chaired by Corinne Dorsey (Dipl ’54 N, B.S. ’65 N).
Opening the Dedication Ceremony, VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., said, “The greatest mark we can make is the success of our people, including students, faculty, staff, alumni — all who will impact the community in profound ways through commitments to helping other human beings. It’s so fitting, then, to honor one of the first champions of this idea at VCU — and one who personified commitment so well — Sadie Heath Cabaniss. In doing so, we remember and proudly recognize her contributions by naming the School of Nursing building in her memory.”
Continuing the theme of the day that evening, at the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Society Dinner at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, an exciting announcement was made regarding the Clinical Nursing Scholars Fund. Led by the tireless efforts of Judith B. Collins, Joseph M. Teefey, Dr. Barbara H. Dunn and Dr. JoAnne K. Henry, the purpose of the Clinical Scholars program in the VCU School of Nursing is to provide flexible funds to recruit and retain the best and brightest clinical faculty. Nationwide, there is increased demand and competition for nursing faculty. The struggle to recruit and retain these faculty is a key factor in the future success of the VCU School of Nursing to educate a strong nursing workforce for Virginia and beyond.
The first Clinical Scholars award honors Emily C. “Mimi” Bennett, who retired a little over a year ago after 35 years of providing excellent care to the greater Richmond community as a nurse practitioner. A two-time alumna of the VCU School of Nursing (B.S. ’72, M.S. ’76) Mimi was among Virginia’s first women’s health nurse practitioners. During her career in women’s health and education, Mimi touched the lives of thousands of patients and their families, nursing students and colleagues. At the dinner, the first Mimi Bennett Clinical Scholars were announced. Mrs. Kathleen Bell and Mrs. Susan Lindner shared their project, “Improving Birth Outcomes Through A Birth Companion Program: Educating Nursing Students as Doulas” with an appreciative audience.
“Our goal is to establish several Clinical Scholars funds to support VCU School of Nursing clinical faculty in the same way that endowed professorships support research faculty,” Collins said.
In this spirit, the Mimi Bennett Award is the first of what the VCU School of Nursing hopes will be many named awards. The plan is to establish additional named Clinical Scholar Funds that recognize the clinical distinction of VCU Nursing graduates. Like the fund named to honor Mimi, these funds will provide a permanent endowment to enhance the clinical excellence of current and future faculty. These Clinical Scholars awards will support faculty in their scholarship and development as clinical leaders. They will follow in the footsteps of graduates like Mimi, demonstrating excellence in clinical practice, education and scholarship.
The School has received a $100,000 challenge grant from the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation for the Clinical Nursing Scholars Fund. To this end, Joseph M. Teefey challenged the guests at the Cabaniss Dinner to join him in making a gift or pledge of $5,000 to the fund. When 10 such gifts are secured, Teefey promised an additional $10,000 to the Fund.
