Seton Hall Nursing Celebrates Global Engagement and Servant Leadership

The Seton Hall community recently gathered to celebrate academic excellence and innovation at its 29th annual Petersheim Academic Exposition. The event brought together undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, administrators and staff across disciplines to share research, experiences and achievements.

Seton Hall’s College of Nursing (CON) was represented by Reilly Williams, a senior in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) program who presented her reflections on Faith and Nursing in Mexico, a service-learning trip completed in partnership with the Catholic Studies Program and the University Core Curriculum.

Williams’ presentation highlighted CON’s focus on interdepartmental collaboration and its commitment to Seton Hall’s Catholic mission of servant leadership, compassion and global engagement.

The interdisciplinary service trip, led by Mary Ellen Roberts, D.N.P., R.N., A.P.N.C., chair of the graduate nursing department, offered 11 undergraduate students from multiple majors the opportunity to integrate faith, service and healthcare in communities with limited access to medical resources.

The trip included stops in Puebla and Mexico City, lectures on Mexico’s public health system and visits to local hospitals.

“Service trips like this are transformative for our students,” said Roberts. “They not only deepen their clinical knowledge and cultural awareness but also ignite a lifelong passion for service and global health. It’s a beautiful demonstration of how faith and professional practice can intersect to make a real impact.”

Roberts also noted that service trips embody CON’s mission to educate compassionate, culturally competent nurses prepared to meet the healthcare needs of a global society. Seton Hall students have access to a growing number of study-abroad opportunities that foster global citizenship, hands-on learning and interprofessional collaboration.

“Presenting at Petersheim gave me the chance to reflect on the true meaning of our trip to Mexico — learning how to treat patients holistically and view them as a person, not just an illness,” said Williams. “Sharing this experience with fellow healthcare-oriented students, many of whom I now consider close friends, was one of the highlights of my senior year.”

As CON continues to expand global learning initiatives, students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities abroad and to showcase their academic journeys at symposiums like Petersheim, where scholarship, service and leadership are celebrated across the University community.

About Seton Hall University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.) Program
Seton Hall University College of Nursing launched New Jersey’s first baccalaureate nursing program in 1937. Today, the College remains a leader in contemporary healthcare education, with U.S. News & World Report ranking Seton Hall’s B.S.N. program among the top 17 percent of undergraduate nursing programs nationwide in its 2025 Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Programs.

With a rigorous curriculum that unites liberal arts with nursing and offers diverse clinical experiences across the state, the B.S.N. program prepares graduates for the complexities of modern healthcare. In 2024, program graduates achieved a 97.4 percent first-time pass rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN), significantly surpassing the 92 percent national average for first-time, U.S.-educated B.S.N. candidates.

For more on Seton Hall University’s B.S.N. degree and eight graduate nursing programs, click here.

Categories: Faith and Service, Health and Medicine, Nation and World