Chapman’s School of Pharmacy has first bridging ceremony for FEAP students

Chapman’s School of Pharmacy hosted a bridging ceremony for the first cadre of Freshman Early Assurance Program (FEAP) students who have just completed their two years of undergraduate work at Chapman’s main campus and will now spend the next three years at the Rinker Campus to complete their Pharm.D. degree.

On Monday, May 23, 10 students received a certificate and a symbolic cord in a ceremony to mark the completion of their undergraduate studies on their way to becoming pharmacists. Eight of the students are part of the School of Pharmacy’s FEAP program and the other two changed their majors after enrolling at Chapman. All will now complete their studies at the School of Pharmacy at the Rinker Campus.

“Because this is the first group of FEAP students, they are a special group to us,” said Laura Cook, Pharm.D., director of FEAP. “They helped pave the way for the students behind them and have established a culture of high achievement and involvement. We are very proud of them.”

Cook is responsible for advising and mentoring FEAP students, which made her instrumental in insuring they were able to get the required undergrad courses and support they needed.

There were several notable students in the bridging ceremony. Priya Patel was awarded the Undergraduate Leadership Award. Kassidy Vo, who at the age of 16 is the youngest student in the program and will soon become the youngest pharmacist in California history. And, three of the students were Allergan Scholars: John Andraos, Priya Patel and Alyia Williams; who each received scholarship money from the Allergan Foundation, which is the official philanthropic arm of the leading pharmaceutical research and development company based in Irvine.

While the ceremony was hosted by Dean Ron Jordan and Laura Cook, Dr. L.B. Brown, associate dean of student affairs closed out the event with these parting words for the students: “Pharmacists are all about keeping patients safe—your patients’ lives depend on it.”