On the first weekend in November, the School of Nursing partnered with the UConn Foundation to connect nursing alums across the generations. From sunny Florida to Storrs in autumn, alumni traveled to reminisce, eat and laugh, and celebrate the life of Henrietta Bernal, Ph.D., RN, who passed away in April of this year.

The allure of Dairy Bar ice cream and Jonathan the Husky are hard to stay away from for too long! Alumni spanning from 1957 to 2024 swapped stories back at their educational beginnings. In particular, the School of Nursing celebrated graduates from years ending in 4 and 9. Some also attended the football game, cheering on UConn’s win over Georgia State and the much-anticipated groundbreaking of the School of Nursing’s new building.  

Faculty, students, staff, and alumni came together to participate in a special community project putting together care bags for Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury. 

Looking back on the good old days 

Joann Marra ‘57 (NUR), shared fond memories of her time as a nursing student at “The Cottage” – although not so fondly of the harsh New England winters of the 1950s. Her cohort was among the first graduates of the four-year nursing program at UConn. Things were quite different back then.

Marra recently retired from Yale, where she vividly remembers the first night she managed Yale’s emergency department, a Monday on Labor Day weekend. Marra eventually started the children’s ER and was a nurse manager in the ICU during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Alumna Pat Bender ’69 (NUR) said, “Being a nurse prepares you for everything – whether that’s being a representative on a board, advocating for legislative policy, or life in general.”

When discussing the new nursing building across campus, Bender emphasized that the overarching goal is to elevate and educate future nurses who will be working with and not just for physicians. 

Third-year students from the Student Learning Association (SLA) and other student leaders volunteered to greet alumni as they entered and offered building tours and insights into the School’s current programs. 

Zaheer Uliv Turtem ’24 (NUR) was UConn Nursing’s most recent graduating class president. He now works in the emergency department at Hartford HealthCare and was pleased to be back on campus with the other alumni like Mike Rawley ’07 (NUR). 

Rawley expressed that the School of Nursing helped set him up for success in subsequent education. He is currently a CRNA at New York University and teaches at Columbia University. Rowley obtained his DNP from Duke University, where his research focused on lung-protective ventilation among singular lung patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Celebrating the Life of Henrietta Bernal 

Professor Emerita Henrietta Bernal received her bachelor’s (’68), master’s (’74) in nursing, and doctorate in anthropology (’84) from the University of Connecticut. She eventually joined the UConn faculty in 1988 where she served until her retirement in 2002. She was a mentor to many. 

Her legacy touched the lives of everyone she met, especially Juliette Shellman ‘98 (NUR), Ph.D., RN, FGSA, Evelyn Gonzales ‘94 (NUR), ‘98 MS, MSN, RN, NE-BC, and Lydia Roldan ‘81 (NUR), APRN, who spoke at her celebration of life.

Bernal believed that patients and students of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life should be treated with equal dignity and respect. The cornerstone of her caring was rooted in community. 

Her dedication to health equity inspired leadership and empathy in her students who have passed these qualities down to future generations. 

Initially, Shellman had no interest in community health. However, Bernal took her under her wing, introduced her to the world of developing partnerships with diverse groups, and was instrumental in Shellman obtaining her Ph.D. in 2003.  

Fostering these types of relationships establishes trust within the community and shows that you actually care. – Juliette Shellman, ’98 (NUR) 

Gonzales, who now works and resides in Florida, was told in no uncertain terms by Bernal that one day she had to return to her roots and her community: “Never forget where you came from.”  

As a young Puerto Rican woman seeking to further her education at UConn and help for her brother with sickle cell disease, Bernal became a mentor to Gonzales. She used to go home every weekend – people here did not speak like her, look like her, or eat the same food. Then one day Bernal revealed that she, too, spoke Spanish, and everything changed. Suddenly, Gonzales was not alone. She had a community.  

“You can do more, and others will follow,” was just some of the advice passed down to Gonzales by Bernal – a wealth of knowledge, compassion, and fierce competence.  

Eventually, Bernal would go on to create the Spanish unit at New Britain General Hospital. She had a special place in her heart for Hispanic and Latine communities. 

Roldan started working with Bernal per diem. Roldan ran numerous social programs through her church, but Bernal encouraged her to do more. So, not wanting to disappoint someone she looked up to, Roldan taught Puerto Rican culture to nursing staff at UConn to give culturally humble and empowering care. 

Bernal’s niece, Aurora Jakubowski, who was in the audience said, “Everything you all said, she taught us. Reminiscence, leadership, respect, extreme competence … she made us who we are.” 

There were tears and laughter after a short video highlighting the life, work, and impact of Bernal, whose passion and devotion to nursing shined. She would always emphasize that nurses are the most frequent contact when patients are at their most vulnerable, and that they must always amplify the voices of those in their care. 

Taking a leaf out of Bernal’s book, Shellman’s advice for current and future nurses is to, “be open, have sensitivity to all, and increase your self-efficacy. Everything you have achieved can be attributed to the basics.” 

Deep in our heart and soul we are all the same. – Lydia Roldan ’81 (NUR) 

In her closing remarks, Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson Ph.D., RN, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN quoted the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing Report, which states, “A national cannot fully thrive until everyone, no matter who they are, where they live, and how much money they make can live the healthiest life possible, and that is the essential role of nurses.” 

Henrietta Bernal was the embodiment of these values, and her legacy will continue to impact UConn and everyone whose lives she touched for years to come. 

Gifts to the Dr. Henrietta Bernal Endowment provide a scholarship to an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled fulltime in the School of Nursing; priority is given to undergraduate students with interest in cultural diversity.