{"id":234970,"date":"2026-05-26T11:52:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=234970"},"modified":"2026-05-26T12:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:01:37","slug":"uh-hilo-liam-2026-nursing-grad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/26\/uh-hilo-liam-2026-nursing-grad\/","title":{"rendered":"¶«¾«Ó°Òµ<\/abbr> Hilo celebrates paw-some honorary nursing grad"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
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Liam, a service dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A service dog who supported nursing students and faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Hilo School of Nursing<\/a> became an honorary member of the Class of 2026 at the school\u2019s Spring Nursing Pinning Ceremony.<\/p>\n

Liam, a service dog belonging to Assistant Professor Tracy Thornett, crossed the stage wearing a custom stole after spending the past two years attending lectures, labs and clinical rotations alongside students. The senior class voted to pin Liam during the ceremony in recognition of the comfort and support he brought to the cohort.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s literally the best dog I\u2019ve ever had,” said Thornett.<\/p>\n

\"liam
Liam spent the last two years attending lectures, labs and clinical rotations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From reject to service dog<\/h2>\n

Born in Pāpaʻikou<\/span>, Liam was unable to be registered with the American Kennel Club because of an overbite. Thornett originally planned for him to become a therapy dog, but those plans changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and a difficult period in her personal life as she cared for her mother during cancer treatment outside Hawaiʻi<\/span>.<\/p>\n

“I just felt myself unraveling,” Thornett said. With support from her doctor, Liam became her official service dog.<\/p>\n

A classroom companion with lasting impact<\/h2>\n

Liam helped Thornett continue teaching while also becoming a familiar presence for nursing students. She introduced him to her junior nursing class in fall 2024 and openly shared how his companionship supported her mental health and well-being.<\/p>\n

Liam later became a staple in nursing labs and classrooms, where students said he helped demonstrate the compassion and human connection central to healthcare.<\/p>\n

“He reminds me how to do that over and over again,” Thornett said.<\/p>\n

Read the full story at K\u016bkala N\u016bhou<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"liam
Liam and Tracy Thornett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liam, a service dog who supported nursing students, became an honorary member of the Class of 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":234972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[234,189,839,14],"class_list":["post-234970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-commencement","tag-nursing","tag-school-of-nursing","tag-uh-hilo","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/hilo-nursing-liam-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234970"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234986,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234970\/revisions\/234986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}