Columbia College (CC) president Dr. Toby Arquette joined numerous others at the recent dedication of the Barbara Bilger family nursing program at Federal hall in downtown Columbia.
President Arquette confirms this is one of the largest gifts in Columbia College history. He tells 939 the Eagle that CC planned to renovate the building prior to the gift:
“It now gives distinct purpose in the sense that now we have not only the nurses but we have someone who has come up and said we believe in this so much that we’re going to invest a significant transformational amount in the college and the education of those nurses,” President Arquette says.
Ms. Bilger is a 1962 CC graduate and her name is now attached to CC’s family nursing program at Federal hall in downtown Columbia. At the recent ceremony, President Arquette read a letter from Ms. Bilger, urging nursing students to smile, to listen to patients and to be grateful. That resonates with Columbia College senior nursing student Madeline Gomez, who tells 939 the Eagle she is already working in health care:
“I’m so grateful I am able to be a nurse and things like that are so incredibly important. And that also drives a lot of the great nurses that are out there,” Ms. Gomez says.
Columbia College says the gift will create an endowed fund that supports the long-term success of the nursing program and funds scholarships for nursing students, students impacted by ME/CFS, first-generation college students and others.