Category | News

School of Nursing celebrates 40th anniversary, honors first director

Published on October 20, 2009 by Andy Nelson

A reception in honor of Charlotte Sachs, founding director of KSU’s WellStar School of Nursing, was held Oct. 17 at the Jolley Lodge.

A portrait of Sachs, painted by Shane McDonald, an alumnus of the College of the Arts, was unveiled during the ceremony.

Glenn Bosio, director of development of the WellStar College of Health and Human Services, kicked off the event by introducing Sachs and the legacy she left behind.

“When you start a new program from scratch, you never know how it’s going to turn out, but its outcomes are dependent on the effort put in. It’s obvious now that there was a lot of effort put in,” said Bosio.

He ended his introduction with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Don’t go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Sachs’s own trail in the U.S. began when she left Germany as a Jewish refugee during World War II. She arrived in Newark, N.J. and on the advice of her mother decided to become a nurse.

She attended the Newark Beth Israel School of Nursing and got her RN in 1940. She then attended Emory University and got her bachelor’s in nursing in 1949, as well as her master’s in public health in 1961.

After working several years at Emory, where she was its first Jewish nurse, she came to KSU where she established the WellStar School of Nursing in 1968 as a two-year program.

From the outset, she insisted that the program be difficult to get into.

“They must pass rigorous examinations if they want to become nurses, and I wanted the students to pass the state exam,” said Sachs. “If it’s not rigorous, they won’t be good nurses.”

Two years after its inception, only six out of 36 students graduated from the school. Sachs retired in 1984, and in 1985, the baccalaureate program was initiated.

After Bosio began the event, Dr. Richard Sowell, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, stood up and began his commemoration to Sachs.

“Today, as far as I’m concerned, is about honoring the legacy you left behind,” Sowell said to Sachs. “What Mrs. Sachs started, a lot of people don’t know. Starting from a small associates degree program in 1968, we now graduate the largest number of baccalaureate students in the state. A lot of people don’t get the chance to see things they’ve worked hard to get started grow into something this impressive.”

After Sowell offered his praises, various individuals offered their own comments on ways Sachs had an impact on their lives. One individual was Jerdone Davis, who applied for the nursing program in 1970.

“As she looked at my transcript, she said, ‘Jerdone, you’ve made a mess out of your academic career,’ and at the time, I thought ‘nobody talks to me like that,’” said Davis as she recalled her interview with Sachs. “Her strength, her forthrightness and her honesty intrigued me.”

Davis was admitted into the program on academic probation but made the Dean’s List throughout nursing school.

“I had to prove myself to be college material,” said Davis. “I would bargain with other students to get into [Sachs'] labs, because she was the one teaching me. She was truly my mentor.”

Davis graduated from the nursing program in 1972 with an associate of science in nursing. She is currently developing a master’s concentration in congregational health ministry for nursing.

Even though Sachs celebrated her 92nd birthday Oct. 15, she still maintains an active lifestyle by swimming regularly, remaining active at her temple and volunteering at what she humorously refers to as the “old folks’ home.”

“There’s a lot she’s brought to her family,” said Harvey Sachs, her eldest son. “She’s been a survivor of breast cancer for 40 years. She’s a tough lady and I’ve bragged on her more than once.”