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JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy welcomed its Class of 2028 with a White Coat Ceremony on Friday, Aug. 16.

“Class of 2028, you are on a career path that will allow you to serve, lead, and impact your community in a wide variety of ways as pharmacists,” said Dr. Ralph Lugo, executive associate dean, at the ceremony. “You are part of an institution that offers elite pharmacy training yet actively maintains a caring community. Our faculty and staff care about your success, as do our alumni, donors, preceptors, and community members.”

The iconic white coat signifies a student pharmacist’s status as a health care professional within a tradition of care and service.

Lugo and special guest Dr. Melissa McCall cloaked the Class of 2028. McCall, an alumna who was a member of the inaugural Class of 2010, also spoke at the ceremony. She serves as pharmacy professional services manager at Food City/K-VA-T Foods Inc. and oversees daily operations at more than 30 Food City Pharmacy locations.

In 2018, former Gov. Bill Haslam appointed her to one of the highest pharmacy positions in Tennessee, serving on the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy. McCall has been awarded the Claude P. Varney Award for Volunteerism from K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. and the “40 Under Forty” award by the Business Journal of Tri-Cities Tennessee/Virginia.

In 2021, she was named among the winners of Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery program. McCall completed her undergraduate pre-pharmacy coursework at ETSU and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Milligan University.

Other speakers included Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at ETSU; Dr. Olivia Welter, director of professional affairs at the Tennessee Pharmacists Association; Jessica Boggs, Class of 2027 president; and Bailey Boyd, president of the Class of 2025, who led the new students in the Oath of the Student Pharmacist.

Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, representing Tennessee’s first district, was a special guest at the ceremony and joined the stage party during the coating to give each student pharmacist a Congressional Certificate of Recognition. Harshbarger, an ETSU alumna, is a pharmacist and earned her Doctor of Pharmacy from Mercer University College of Pharmacy.

Below are highlights from the Class of 2028:

• 66% female students and 34% male students.
• Almost a third are first-generation college students.
• They represent nine states and one U.S. territory.
• Over half are from Tennessee.
• Over two-thirds hail from this region.
• They attended 36 different colleges and universities.
• Over a third completed their undergraduate work at ETSU.
• 22% of the class came through the college’s Early Admission Program.

The class arrived on Aug. 5 for Gatton Ready, a bridge program to help students get acclimated to the rigors of pharmacy school, culminating in the White Coat Ceremony. Gatton Ready is part of the college’s commitment to providing elite pharmacy training within a caring and supportive culture.

ETSU Gatton College of Pharmacy is ranked second in the nation for its NAPLEX licensure pass rate among accredited schools in 2024 (No. 1 in Tennessee, No. 1 in the Southeast).

ETSU Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy is one of the university’s five health sciences schools that comprise its Academic Health Sciences Center, providing students with a robust combination of academic and clinical sciences programs that elevate their interprofessional experience.

Applications are open for the Class of 2029, with up to $15,000 in scholarships available for those who apply by Nov. 1 and meet other criteria. Learn more and apply at etsu.edu/pharmacy.