Shepherd University senior receives nursing scholarship

ISSUED: 8 December 2006
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
(Shepherd University senior receives nursing scholarship)

Editor's Note: Click on the thumbnail below for a printable image.

Pictured from (l. to r.) are Charles Printz, charter member; Rebecca Swink, scholarship recipient; and David Wright, chef de gare of La Societe Des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux, Voiture 1356.

Shepherdstown, WV--Shepherd University senior Rebecca Swink has been awarded the La Societe Des 40 Hommes et 8 Chevaux, Voiture Locale 1356, Charles Town, Nursing Scholarship.

"When we started the scholarship in 1953," said Charles Printz, charter member of Voiture 1356, "the nursing program at Shepherd had just started and needed some support. We were happy to provide some help to needy students."

Swink, a Berkeley Springs native who plans to graduate in May 2007, is gaining nursing experience by working as a nursing assistant in the labor and delivery program at Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland. A wife and mother of a two-year-old, Swink views the scholarship as "a welcome relief. I appreciate receiving financial aid that I don't have to pay back."

"I feel very strongly about the significance of this award," said David Wright, chef de gare of the local chapter. "My wife was a nurse for 34 years and I am happy to see our organization supporting this essential service."

Translated as the Society of 40 men and 8 horses, the organization's titles and symbols reflect its World War I origins. American servicemen in France were transported to the battlefront on narrow gauge French railroads (chemin de fer) inside boxcars (voitures) that were half the size of American boxcars. Each French boxcar was stenciled with a 40/8 denoting its capacity to hold either 40 men or eight horses. The local chapter has 37 members. Membership is by invitation only and includes veterans with special dedication to veterans' interests.

For further information about this scholarship or how to create a scholarship fund, please contact the Shepherd University Foundation at 304/876-5397.

-30-HORST

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