Faculty, graduates, and family celebrate service, resilience, and professional purpose at Belk Auditorium ceremony
The members of the Class of 2026 graduating from the Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy entered the profession Friday carrying more than doctoral hoods and diplomas.
They carried a charge to serve.
During the school’s 13th hooding ceremony and commencement exercises in Belk Auditorium, faculty and college leaders repeatedly emphasized that pharmacy is not simply a technical discipline, but a vocation rooted in compassion, integrity, lifelong learning, and care for others.
PC president Dr. Anita Gustafson told graduates their profession relates beautifully to the college’s motto, “While We Live, We Serve.”
“Each prescription you fill, each medication review you conduct, each patient consultation you provide represents an opportunity to serve others at their most vulnerable moments. In this way, your chosen profession is a living extension of PC’s core values and mission,” she said.
The ceremony blended academic tradition with celebration and reflection as graduates recessed into Belk to the sound of bagpipes, received doctoral hoods, and formally entered the pharmacy profession after four years of demanding study, laboratory work, clinical experiences, and rotations.
Each prescription you fill, each medication review you conduct, each patient consultation you provide represents an opportunity to serve others at their most vulnerable moments. In this way, your chosen profession is a living extension of PC’s core values and mission.”
Dr. Anita Gustafson, President of Presbyterian College
‘You Are the Outcome’
Dr. Giuseppe Gumina, dean of the School of Pharmacy, welcomed graduates, families, faculty, and friends while noting that the Class of 2026 now joins an alumni network more than 700 graduates strong.
“In front of you are 19 outstanding individuals who have grown academically, professionally, and personally,” Gumina said.
The keynote address was delivered by associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences Dr. Katherine Hanlon, the school’s 2025-26 Teacher of the Year, who mixed humor and heartfelt reflection while addressing what she described as one of her favorite classes.
Hanlon joked about being the professor responsible for keeping students awake at night worrying over biochemistry and pharmacology exams before turning reflective about the class’s journey through years marked by institutional changes, rigorous coursework, and professional growth.
“You’ve all heard me say multiple times that despite what was instilled early on in your education, the grades are not the outcome,” Hanlon said. “You are the outcome.”
Hanlon encouraged graduates to embrace seven guiding principles as they begin their careers: integrity, growth, presence, balance, kindness, gratitude, and doing good.
“Choose kindness,” she said. “Choose to be as helpful and conscientious as you possibly can be and choose to give the benefit of the doubt.”
A Framework for the Future
The ceremony’s student address was delivered by Makenzie Swearingen Chapman, who used the pharmacist patient care process as a metaphor for life and professional development.
The process — collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow up — is typically used in patient care, but Chapman challenged her classmates to apply the same principles to their careers and personal growth.
“More importantly, we have learned how to learn,” Chapman said. “As pharmacists, we have signed up to be lifelong learners, constantly collecting new information to better serve our patients.”
Chapman reflected on how the class’s goals and plans had evolved since entering pharmacy school, encouraging classmates to give themselves grace as they continue growing professionally and personally.
“It is time we take what we’ve learned and use it to make meaningful impacts for our patients and communities,” she said.
She also emphasized the enduring relationships formed during the program.
“Presbyterian College is our home and part of our story,” Chapman said. “We are a network that does not end here.”
Recognizing Excellence and Service
The ceremony also highlighted outstanding achievements among graduates, faculty, staff, alumni, and preceptors.
Tricia Robinson received the Viatris Excellence in Pharmacy Award, presented to a graduate demonstrating academic achievement, professional motivation, and exceptional communication of drug information.
Campbell Vickery received the Merck Manuals Award for Academic Excellence.
Chapman also received the Presbyterian College Mortar and Pestle Award, which honors the graduate who best exemplifies the mission and vision of the School of Pharmacy through ethical leadership, compassion, service, and commitment to equitable patient care.
The school additionally recognized students completing its Public and Rural Health Concentration, a program designed to prepare future pharmacists to address healthcare disparities in underserved and rural communities through specialized coursework and community engagement experiences.
Certificate recipients included:
- Payton Alexander
- Rachel Caldwell
- Jordan Cook
Several graduates were also recognized for matching into highly competitive postgraduate residency programs, including:
- Payton Alexander
- Mackenzie Chapman
- Jordan Cook
- Sara Martinez
- Taylor Pouncey
- Campbell Vickery
In addition, two students from the Class of 2025 matched to a PGY2 residency program:
- Chase Arrington
- Adelaine Hogan
‘Once a Blue Hose, always a Blue Hose’
Dr. Erin McAdams, PC provost and vice president for academic affairs, formally authorized the granting of degrees on behalf of the college and encouraged graduates to remember Presbyterian College as their “academic home” and the campus community as their “PC family.”
Gumina closed the ceremony by reminding graduates that while faculty and mentors guided them, their success ultimately came from their own perseverance and determination.
“We did our best to lead you to the well, but it was up to you to drink,” Gumina said.
He encouraged graduates to take pride in earning degrees from what he called “one of the top pharmacy programs in the nation” while remaining grounded in the profession’s central mission of helping others.
“Welcome to our wonderful pharmacy profession,” Gumina said. “Be proud of your accomplishments today. Make us proud of your accomplishments tomorrow.
“And remember, once a Blue Hose, always a Blue Hose.”
The Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy Class of 2026
- Peter Gamal Abdelmessih — Magna Cum Laude
- Payton Elizabeth Alexander — Cum Laude
- Rachel Dendy Caldwell — Magna Cum Laude
- Makenzie Swearingen Chapman — Cum Laude
- Jordan Adora Cook — Cum Laude
- Ashley Marie Flanagan
- Bavly George Gargas
- Brianna Michelle Martin
- Sara Martinez — Magna Cum Laude
- Sakshi Sunilbhai Patel
- Colin Addison Pendergrass — Magna Cum Laude
- Taylor Renee Pouncey — Cum Laude
- Jessica Lynn Roberts
- Patricia Ellen Robinson
- Syjaddia Ashley Snider — Cum Laude
- Jami Lee Threlkeld
- Souinta Ginalee Vasavong
- Lane Campbell Vickery — Magna Cum Laude
- Brandon Cheneng Xiong
