Vet Candy: Tufts University Veterinary School Aims to Increase Diversity

Tufts University’s veterinary school aims to increase diversity

By Angela Nelson

Damian Clarke, is a Black veterinary student who does not often see himself represented in veterinary medicine — a field which is about 89 percent white. Originally from Barbados, Clarke moved to the United States in high school and received his undergraduate degree in Florida before landing on the Grafton campus of Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

“While I haven’t had one specific role model who looks like me, I’m able to find bits and pieces from different people who I aspire to be like. And that, for me, has been just as good,” Clarke said.

Cora Evans, a second-year veterinary student at Cummings School, grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she often visited the Duke University Lemur Center with her mother. She knew from a young age that she wanted to work with animals, but she had met only one Black veterinarian in her life. That changed in her undergraduate years when she attended Spelman College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) for women, and completed a study abroad program focused on wildlife conservation in the East African nation of Tanzania.

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Straight Outta Grafton

Our first place overall winner: Maxbetter Vizelberg from Tufts!!!

Volume 51: Issue 2 Creative Corner

Dr. Google Memes

Alex Hicks-Nelson - Tufts

V:50 I:4 Life as a Vet Student

Kestrel Boxes, or Why I Continue To Choose Experience: A First Year Story

Nikki Becich - Tufts

V:50 I:4 Experiences Honorable Mention

Everyone’s been there.

You’re stressed out on a regular Thursday afternoon. You have exactly 217 textbook pages you’d like to review before you even -look- at the end-chapter review questions you KNOW are going to be on the written part of the exam. You haven’t slept much because you’re on call for Large or Small animal tech team, or you got up early for baby care team at the Wildlife Clinic, and you went to those dinner talks and learned about Veterinarians in the Army, got your VBMA credits, and now you’re here. The exam is tomorrow. Your undergraduate A-complex conscience is chewing you out for your irresponsible behavior and irreverence of the educational system you’re paying for the privilege of being a part of…

And you get an email.

The State Ornithologist is on campus, and we know you love birds! Would you have time to walk campus with him while he stakes out the best location to place Kestrel nest boxes…for an hour or two? Just an hour or two.

You may not have pulled that A, or even that B, in this class’s last exam. You could get through a decent amount of material in these next few hours. You aren’t struggling with the material, though. Your grades are fine. Not exceptional, but fine. What do you say?

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More Winning Memes from Life as a Vet Student!!

Here are the other three of our favorite veterinary student memes from the Life as a Vet Student category:

Ann Abress - St. George's University

 Eric Littman - Tufts

 Joe Swartz - Texas A&M