In spring 2026, a group of Troy University nursing students traveled to Children’s Hospital of Alabama for a pediatric rotation. The White Coat Society was able to help the students with cost of the trip. The society is a donor-supported fund started at the School of Nursing.
The White Coat Society is TROY’s way for donors to help undergraduate nursing students with the costs that sit outside tuition. This spring, those gifts helped pay for most of their travel so students could complete a specialized rotation they otherwise would have had to pass up.
Dr. Jenna Hussey, DNP, RN, an associate professor in the School of Nursing, was in charge of the rotation.
The White Coat Society and the White Coat and Stethoscope Fund started in 2023 to take some of the pressure off nursing students. Beyond tuition and books, students usually spend $400 to $800 a year on things they have to have for clinicals: scrubs, shoes, stethoscopes, badge holders, clipboards, and pen lights.
A gift of $100 or more makes someone a member of the White Coat Society. Those gifts still buy supplies. They also cover the costs that decide whether a student can say yes to a rotation like this one: gas, a hotel, meals, and time away from a job.
Lauren Chandler, director of development for the College of Health Sciences, works with the donors who keep the fund going.
“Most people picture a stethoscope or a pair of scrubs, and those gifts still matter every semester,” Chandler said. “This spring showed us the same fund can open a door. When a student can get to a children’s hospital, they come back a better nurse, and that helps kids in Alabama. That is a pretty clear return on a gift.”
Hussey said the payoff continues after students get back to campus. They come home with more questions, more confidence, and a clearer idea of where they want to work after graduation.
“We want qualified TROY nursing students limited by their ambition, not by a hotel bill,” Chandler said. “If you want to help a student become a pediatric nurse, this is a practical way to do it. A $100 gift is membership in the White Coat Society. That membership funded a rotation this spring. The next gift funds the next student.”
Hussey put it simply. “When donors give to this fund, they are not writing a check to an idea. They are helping to send a student to a great clinical experience who would not otherwise be financially stable to get there.”
Gifts of $100 or more to the White Coat and Stethoscope Fund make you a member of the White Coat Society. The money goes straight to undergraduate nursing students for supplies, clinical travel, and other costs that stand between a student and the next clinical.
To give, visit donate.troy.edu/donate and select “White Coat Society & Stethoscope Fund”
