School of Nursing Students Recognized for Their Achievements at Annual Tropaia Ceremony
Top Image: Sara Perotti (G’25), DNP Scholar of Distinction, delivered the student address at this year’s Tropaia ceremony.
(May 18, 2025) — Faculty of the School of Nursing celebrated the extraordinary accomplishment of the Class of 2025 at the annual Tropaia ceremony on May 15 in Lohrfink Auditorium.
School of Nursing Dean Roberta Waite recognized Sydney Blackston (N’25), left, and Erin Dombrowski (N’25), right, ahead of their commissioning as officers in the military.
“Today, at Tropaia, we celebrate extraordinary accomplishments in the School of Nursing. Congratulations to each and every one of you on the hard work and dedication that led to this moment,” said Roberta Waite, EdD, RN, PMHCNS, ANEF, FAAN, dean of the School of Nursing.
Erin Dombrowski (N’25) and Sydney Blackston (N’25) were recognized for their commissions in the United States military. Blackston will be commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps and Dombrowski will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
Sara Perotti (G’25), DNP, delivered the student address. “Nurses are the very foundation of America’s health system. It is our broad and brave shoulders upon which the system rests,” she said. “Nurses are there in every moment of life and loss, healing the sick, nurturing the wounded, grieving with and bearing witness to every facet of humanity in its most raw, most fragile and most profound states.”
Scenes From This Year’s Tropaia
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2025 School of Nursing Tropaia Awardees
The Colleen Krebs Norton Scholarly Project Awards
Claudia Byun and Lauren Regan
Honors Student Award for Excellence in Nursing Research
Mikaila Kitchen
BSN Excellence in Clinical Practice Award
Casey Goss
Loyola Award
Lauren Regan
BSN Leadership and Advocacy Award
Jordynn Bozzo and Kathryn Kolonja
Rose Ann McGarrity Service Award
Marianne Savanne
Marianne Cardillo Lyons Cura Personalis Award
Sara Kate Besanceney
Sr. Helen Scarry Social Justice Award
Sydney Blackston
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student in Bachelors of Science in Nursing
Claudia Byun
Dean’s Award
Grace Merola
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student in Masters of Science, Family Nurse Practitioner
Ariel Arzt
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Practitioner
Mandy Sailor
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student in the Nurse-Midwifery/Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program
Melissa Pine Yeager
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student in the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program
Alexus Scott
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student in Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chastity Burchuk
DNP Leadership Award
Chime Lhamu
DNP Scholar of Distinction Award
Sara Perotti
Tropaia Award for Outstanding Student in Doctorate of Nursing Anesthesia Practice
Emily Newell
DNAP Academic Excellence Award
Emily Potts
DNAP Program Leadership Award
Joseph Yap
DNAP Clinical Excellence Award
Matthew Kadlec
DNAP Research Excellence Award
Flora Fang, Kara Lucenti, and Ashley Chae