Members of the University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Optometry‘s 2025 graduating class show off their white coats as family members and friends snap photos during the 24th Annual White Coat Ceremony on Friday afternoon in the Century Rooms of the Millennium Student Center. Forty-three students completed the first two years of the professional curriculum and received their white coats during the ceremony as a symbol that they have earned the right to begin their clinical education. Next to graduation, the ceremony is the most significant event in future doctors’ optometric education.

This photograph was taken by UMSL photographer Derik Holtmann and is the latest to be featured in Eye on UMSL.