The 2014 physician assistant class honored deceased classmate Lauren Bump at the commencement ceremony in December by wearing pink cords in memory of their friend.
Last New Year’s Eve, Bump was found stabbed to death in a local park in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas. Several days later Christian Ivan Bautista was arrested and charged with her murder. He currently awaits trial with bond set at $200,000.
Director of the PA program, Dr. Michael Murphy, said he wanted to commemorate Bump in what would have been her graduation ceremony, and thought the cords would be a perfect solution.
“The class really liked it too, it was in solidarity, recognizing Lauren had an influence on all of them,” Murphy said.
Bump’s classmate and close friend Whitney Kiihnl said she appreciated the gesture.
“I was so grateful that Harding would let us represent Lauren with the pink cords,” Kiihnl said. “The week of graduation was a very emotional time for all of us — full of joy and full of sadness.”
Murphy said choosing the color pink was a no-brainer, because it was Bump’s favorite.
“She was always wearing pink,” Murphy said. “We all wore pink to the funeral.”
Murphy said President Bruce McLarty flew him and several of his colleagues to Bump’s funeral in San Antonio last year, so that the faculty who knew her well could pay their respects.
PA clinical director Dr. Gary Hill attended with Murphy and McLarty, and said he was close to Bump due to their time spent together on a mission trip to Guatemala during her junior year of PA school.
“She was really a sweet girl,” Hill said. “You wouldn’t find a better Christian young lady.”
Hill said that before she passed away, Bump had already signed up and raised the funds to attend the spring break mission trip again her senior year.
“She had a heart for the broken and for those that were outcast,” Kiihnl said. “She truly was an example to us all in how she lived: her care and devotion to others and her love for the Lord.”
Kiihnl said despite the heartbreak of losing her friend, she and her classmates carry Bump’s legacy of Christian love with them.
“Lauren’s legacy remains in each of us — every person we encounter during our careers as physician assistants will have been influenced by Lauren and her story,” Kiihnl said. “A story of joy, hope and love, found only in the Lord our Savior.”
