Annual White coat ceremony recognizes 166 students
Liberty University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine recognized the Class of 2027 during its 10th annual White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, July 29. The event allowed 166 students to walk across the stage of the School of Music’s Concert Hall to be presented their white coats and lapel pins.
The White Coat Ceremony is held across many other universities in the country and recognizes students on their journey toward medical school. LUCOM’s class of 2027 included students from 30 different states as well as eight international students. The top five states represented that Saturday morning included Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York
and California.
The ceremony opened with remarks from Provost Scott Hicks and Dean Joseph R. Johnson. Each shared a brief message of encouraging words to the students before allowing them to take the stage in celebration of their accomplishments and
journey forward.
“Each of you has dreamed, worked and sacrificed, and you have waited many years to be here,” Johnson said. “Every single one of you deserves to be here, and your loved ones, along with our faculty and staff, are here cheering you on. On behalf of myself and the faculty and staff, we firmly believe in your class, and what I want to see is every single one of you walking across the graduation stage four years from now. We are extremely invested in your education and in training Champions for Christ.”
Johnson also noted that the journey to medical school would be both challenging and rewarding, with late-night study sessions becoming routine followed by challenging exams and a touch of homesickness. Finally, he cited Proverbs 3:5-6, a passage he said his mother used to read to him in school.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight,”Johnson said.
As part of a tradition that the ceremony holds, 14 students were separately coated onstage by family members who are either currently practicing medicine or have retired with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or Doctor of Medicine degree. This part of the ceremony aims to recognize family histories in the medical field.
“It’s so special to be here, and the white coat is really just a symbol of what we’re about to embark on together,” Austin Murphy, a first-year medical student from Tennessee, said. “I’ve already met a lot of great people, and I’m excited to go through this with them and become who we’re meant to be.”
To conclude the event, student doctors stood together — adorned in their new white coats — and spoke in unison to acknowledge their responsibilities and ethical standards within the field of medicine.
Hess is the news editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on X
