Trent University has announced three inaugural recipients of the Doreen (Larmer) Stewart Nursing Scholarship—a new scholarship to expand support for local students from rural or farming communities who face financial barriers to an education in nursing.

Kate McFarlane, Rachel Roots, and Hannah Raymond are the first-ever recipients of a Doreen (Larmer) Stewart Nursing Scholarship, created through a $100,000 gift from Doreen J. Stewart, a retired registered nurse with strong roots in the Peterborough area.

“Thanks to Mrs. Stewart’s generosity, this scholarship will help remove barriers for students who wish to join our programs and become the nurses of tomorrow – compassionate and critical thinkers who create social change through the promotion of health and well-being,” says Dr. Hugo Lehmann, acting dean of the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing (TFSON).

Doreen’s family faced financial hardship when she was growing up in the farming community of South Monaghan largely due to medical costs for her sisters Ruth and Shirley who had juvenile diabetes in the days before national healthcare.

“It is my hope that this scholarship helps bring the best and brightest minds to study at the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing,” says Doreen. “Financial hardship should not impede the education and training of capable and compassionate people for careers in nursing, and the pandemic has shone a light on the critical importance of nursing as a career.”

Doreen was able to pursue her dream of nursing. She graduated with her registered nurse qualifications from the Peterborough Civic Hospital in 1964, Occupational Health in 1979, and General Studies, Science in 2005. Her career spanned emergency and intensive care units across Canada, U.S. and South America.

The Doreen (Larmer) Stewart Nursing Scholarship will be distributed annually, with up to three awards worth $2,500 each available for full-time nursing students in any year of study in the TFSON. The scholarship will offer financial assistance to qualified students: those with demonstrated financial need, with longstanding connections in the greater Peterborough community and surrounding rural areas, and who intend to complete a Bachelor’s degree in the study of nursing and go on to a nursing career.

The scholarship will further enhance the world-class undergraduate and graduate programs at the TFSON.

In April, the first Doreen (Larmer) Stewart Scholarships were awarded alongside 11 other awards and scholarships offered through the TFSON and made possible with the generous support of the School’s donors. Both faculty and students were honoured with TFSON awards, recognizing their especially hard work and dedication to the sector and learning over the past two years due to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about the Trent/Fleming School of Nursing, its degree programs and state-of-the-art training facilities.

About Trent University

One of Canada's top universities, Trent University was founded on the ideal of interactive learning that's personal, purposeful and transformative. Consistently recognized nationally for leadership in teaching, research and student satisfaction, Trent attracts excellent students from across the country and around the world. Here, undergraduate and graduate students connect and collaborate with faculty, staff and their peers through diverse communities that span residential colleges, classrooms, disciplines, hands-on research, co-curricular and community-based activities. Across all disciplines, Trent brings critical, integrative thinking to life every day. Today, Trent's unique approach to personal development through supportive, collaborative community engagement is in more demand than ever. Students lead the way by co-creating experiences rooted in dialogue, diverse perspectives and collaboration. In a learning environment that builds life-long passion for inclusion, leadership and social change, Trent's students, alumni, faculty and staff are engaged global citizens who are catalysts in developing sustainable solutions to complex issues. Trent's Peterborough campus boasts award-winning architecture in a breathtaking natural setting on the banks of the Otonabee River, just 90 minutes from downtown Toronto, while Trent University Durham Greater Toronto Area, delivers a distinct mix of programming in the east GTA.