A Lifetime and Beyond of Giving

Featuring donor Katherine C. Bobbitt, Ed.D.

“My family used to joke that the main things I learned growing up in North Carolina were reading, writing and the road to Richmond,” said Katherine (Kathy) C. Bobbitt, Ed.D., alumnus and former faculty member of the School of Nursing. “Looking back, it does seem that way — that I was meant to come here. But I don’t think that we had a notion of the strong roots I’d put down.”

Bobbitt earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the MCV School of Nursing in 1956. In 1963 she went on to earn her Master of Science degree in psychiatric and mental health nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was awarded a Doctorate of Education with a clinical specialty in adult education from NOVA University in 1987. Her career at MCV began in 1956 as an ER nurse. It resumed after graduate school when she accepted the position of clinical nurse specialist at MCV Hospitals, and continued as faculty of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing. She served as associate professor with the Department of Community and Psychiatric Nursing until her retirement in 1992.

“No matter where else I went, I just kept getting tugged back to MCV,” she said. “There is a ‘give it all you’ve got’ culture here. The teamwork and patient-centered, interdisciplinary approach just gets in your blood.”

Several years ago, Bobbitt and three of her fellow nursing faculty, Lorna Barrell, Ph.D., Gloria Francis, Ph.D., and Barbara Munjas, Ph.D., decided to establish a fund to honor the many years that they had shared teaching at the School of Nursing. Named The Legacy Lectureship in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, the fund supports the further understanding of psychiatric nursing and increased awareness of the interrelationship of mental and physical health in achieving patient outcomes. The fund has attracted gifts from more than 75 additional School of Nursing benefactors. Bobbitt’s initial contribution to the fund took the form of a charitable gift annuity.

“This was an ideal planned giving arrangement for me,” Bobbitt said. “The investment in the fund continues to grow, supporting its purpose. The annuity generates a fixed income, which I, in turn, donate back to the fund, assuring me of a steady level of support of the School of Nursing over my lifetime; and when I die the total annuity will go to the fund. The added benefit is that by giving annually, I qualify for the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Society, which is another way to stay connected with other alumni and friends of the school.”

The Sadie Heath Cabaniss Society recognizes contributors who make annual financial gifts of $250 or more to support the mission of the VCU School of Nursing. Bobbitt’s involvement with the MCV Campus extends well beyond the School of Nursing. She has served on the MCV Foundation board of trustees since 1992, is an active member of the MCV Alumni Association of VCU and has held leadership positions in numerous VCU committees and community health care organizations.

“There is no way that I could ever give back to the MCV Campus as much as it has given to me. I have had the privilege of participating in the growth of the university and the School of Nursing, to work with many dedicated, caring colleagues. I’ve been in an environment where knowledge and compassion are highly valued. And I’ve helped prepare young nurses for the challenges of their profession, and then seen them achieve their goals. It’s no wonder that I’ve loved this place since my first day of nursing school, and still do today.”