A tradition of care, from one nurse to another

When Whitney Stewart walked across the stage at her pinning ceremony in May 2025, she was thinking about more than her own future. She had invited Brenda Honeycutt Watson — her fiancé’s grandmother and a retired nurse — to present the silver cross pin that symbolizes entry into the nursing profession. What made the moment even more meaningful: Brenda received the same style of pin 61 years earlier as a member of the first nursing class to graduate from Lenoir-Rhyne.

“We all felt lucky to welcome Whitney into our family,” said Brenda. “I was excited to know she was going to be a nurse, and we’ve shared a lot of the same experiences. I was honored to be part of her capping and pinning, to welcome her into our family and our profession.”

That connection is at the heart of the pinning ceremony — a tradition where experienced nurses formally welcome new graduates into the field. At Lenoir-Rhyne, the custom dates back to the university’s first nursing graduates in 1964, but the practice itself is much older. It’s rooted in the 12th century, when monks in the Knights Hospitaller were awarded the Maltese cross for caring for the sick and wounded during the Crusades.

Centuries later, Queen Victoria revived the practice when she awarded Florence Nightingale the Royal Red Cross for her service to injured soldiers in the Crimean War. Inspired by the honor, Nightingale presented similar crosses to her top nursing students. Eventually, the tradition spread to nursing schools throughout the United Kingdom and the United States.

The design of the LR pin remains consistent: a silver Latin cross engraved with the university’s name. When Brenda showed Whitney the pin she received in 1964, they were struck by how little it had changed.

“Unless you are a nurse, or unless you’re in the world of nursing, it’s really hard for somebody to understand,” Whitney said. “Since Brenda’s gone through nursing school and is a nurse — whenever I talk about my tests or clinicals, she knows how I feel because she has been there herself.”

Whitney knew from a young age she wanted to be part of the nursing world. A Catawba County native and graduate of Bandys High School, she completed a health science immersion program that allowed her to earn her CNA license in high school. After starting college at Gardner-Webb — where she met her fiancé, Ben — she eventually transferred back home to focus fully on nursing at LR.

“I did nursing and cheered at Gardner-Webb. That’s why I went there,” she said. “But doing both was way too much, so I chose nursing school and transferred back to LR.”

Her clinical rotations at LR introduced her to a range of specialties, including pediatrics, medical-surgical and cardiac intensive care. One particular experience helped her find her path.

“I had a practicum in the cardiac ICU at Frye and saw a lot of open-heart surgeries,” she said. “That sparked me. I was like, ‘Oh, this is interesting. I really like it.’”

A later internship at Piedmont Plastic Surgery solidified her interest in surgical nursing. When a position opened in the operating room at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, Whitney knew it was the right fit. She accepted the offer before graduation and is set to begin in July. Whitney passed the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) in June, along with 22 of her 23 classmates — 95.7% of the class of 2025. She will also return to LR in the fall to begin the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

Brenda’s career followed a different path, but the drive to serve and grow remained the same. After graduating from LR in 1964, she began working at Frye Memorial Hospital — now Frye Regional Medical Center. Then she moved on to the Lutheran Home — now Trinity Village — and later Catawba County Public Health. Over 34 years in public health, she rose from staff nurse to director of nursing and ultimately director of health services. She retired from public health in 2000 and spent two additional years in mental health nursing.

“I think we offered a lot of good programs,” Brenda said. “Our prenatal program, for example, was outstanding and substantially improved infant mortality rates in Catawba County. We started a home health agency that — at the time — was one of the largest in the state.”

She credits her education at Lenoir-Rhyne for preparing her to grow with every step.

“I loved patient care. I loved seeing needs in the community and designing programs to serve those needs. I felt prepared for all my work because my education at Lenoir-Rhyne gave me a broad view of different subjects and programs,” she said.

Though they’re not officially related yet, Whitney and Brenda already feel like family, and their shared experience at Lenoir-Rhyne has deepened that bond.