By Bill Snyder

“Simple Beginnings” is Vanderbilt University’s annual ceremony that welcomes each new class of doctoral students in the biomedical and biological sciences.

The highlight of the event, which is hosted by the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training (BRET), is the presentation of white lab coats to the students. A symbol of academic rigor and scientific excellence, the lab coats also reflect the students’ commitment to benefiting society through research and discovery.

The ceremony and lab coats were made possible through the generous donations of alumni, faculty, and other supporters.

The name of the ceremony refers to Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species: “from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”