Baylor Nursing gala, featuring former First Lady Laura Bush, raises $1M to support nursing students

Each spring, Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON) holds its annual Going for the Gold Gala to raise funds for the school’s most critical needs — scholarships, facilities, etc. Each gala has featured a special guest — including such names as Troy Aikman, Trey Wingo and Kim Mulkey in 2012, Robert Griffin III and Mike Singletary in 2015, and “Chicago Fire” co-writer Derek Haas in 2017.
This year’s guest? None other than the former First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush.
A champion of women’s healthcare and child development, Mrs. Bush was interviewed by Baylor President Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D. She reflected on her time as First Lady and discussed the work of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas. As First Lady, Mrs. Bush advanced literacy and education to support America’s young people; today, as chair of the Women’s Initiative at the Bush Institute, she continues her work on global healthcare innovations and empowering women in emerging democracies.
(Fun fact: Mrs. Bush’s twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, were actually born at Baylor University Medical Center — right across the street from LHSON’s current location.)
This year’s gala raised over $1 million to help LHSON finish the school’s new home in Dallas. Baylor Nursing will soon move from an overcrowded, 38,000-square-foot facility into a new, contemporary, 100,000-square-foot home, as renovation nears completion on the former Baptist Building in Dallas.
Sic ’em, Baylor nurses!
BONUS CONTENT: Check out the video, in which former Baylor quarterback Nick Florence (BBA ’11, MBA ’13) and his wife, Rachel (BA ’10), explain the important role a Baylor nurse played when their daughter, Ella Kate, was born two months early. Visit youtube.com/watch?v=yy1gHy1Qz6s.