Blue Robes and White Coats

The School of Public Health and Health Professions’ annual commencement on May 21 was—perhaps more than usual after two years of the pandemic—a celebration of student success, family, friends and being together. More than 400 graduate and undergraduate students strode across the stage of UB’s Alumni Arena, a large venue needed to hold the ever-growing number of SPHHP graduates. There, they found handshakes, smiles and hugs from the assembled faculty, administration and special guests, along with a piece of parchment naming them newly minted graduates of one of SUNY’s flagship institutions.

The Department of Rehabilitation Science White Coat Ceremony is another SPHHP annual rite of passage, this one for physical therapy students. There, they receive the white coat, which signifies their transition from the classroom and didactic learning to the clinic and experiential learning. Third-year doctor of physical therapy student Madeline Wnuk not only got her white coat but also the Alfred T. Caffiero Scholarship, which, she says, will help her reach her dream of joining the United States Air Force as a physical therapist. Alfred Caffiero, in whose honor the scholarship is named, was a clinical instructor whose first student was from UB’s Physical Therapy program. He maintained exceptionally strong ties with UB from that point forward. This year, a gift from one of Caffiero’s daughters, Elizabeth Smietana, has established the Alfred T. Caffiero White Coat Ceremony Fund, which will cover costs associated with this ceremony.