The Oath Magazine

Oath

The

TEACH • HEAL • DISCOVER

Fall 2021

New Equine Hospital page 3

Dean Lunn's Legacy page 17

Quattlebaum Distinguished Chair page 25

First Day of Classes, 40 Years Later page 27

Our Path Toward More Inclusive Veterinary Medicine page 7

FROM THE DEAN

Looking Back, Moving Forward Photo by Marc Hall/NC State University

This will be my last message in the Oath, as in January of 2022 I’m leaving the college for a new position in the United Kingdom. Looking back, I have been incredibly lucky to be part of the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State for the past 10 years. I have known this from the moment I got the job offer back in 2012, through even a few sticky patches and especially during the past 18 months while this college held itself together and showed its strength during the misery of COVID-19.

Nobody can say that our people have had an easy path, especially today as we fight our way to the end of this awful pandemic. Despite this, the strength of spirit and purpose of our community meant we could still achieve our goals in the face of any adversity.

A lot has been built, certainly bricks and mortar – with more to come – but above all the faculty, staff and students are building a values-driven culture that understands how to aspire to excellence and care for our community while paying attention to personal wellness.

This college graduated its first students in 1985 and rapidly developed a national reputation for excellence and innovation due to the strength of those early generations of faculty, 1

staff and leaders. The last decade has seen a changing of the guard, with new leaders and innovators emerging from the ranks of our new recruits, together with new disciplines and approaches. This is a phenomenal evolution, but more needs to come. We have more than doubled our scientific productivity, but we must double it again, and we can because of the remarkable teams we have built across our programs.

Our education program has always been widely admired for its excellence and the resources it enjoys, but in the near future it will reinvent what a state-of-the-art clinical professional education program looks like and provide our students with opportunities and learning environments that we could not imagine just a few years ago. Above all, our bond and service to the community and to animals will remain at the forefront of veterinary clinical medicine. I have seen enough over the past 40 years to know that our hospital program is second to no other in the world.

This is why we can still attract the best talent in the nation and beyond, and why we must continue to invest in clinical facilities and technology that keep us at the absolute forefront of veterinary innovation and care.

Veterinary medicine has always enjoyed a special place in society, appreciated for the vital role we play in one health and in the compassion we bring to our work. Today, the vital and central role of veterinary medicine in global health has never been more apparent.

While much may remain unclear about the path SARS-CoV2 took to infect people, it is certain that this is a zoonotic transboundary disease and just the latest to hammer our civilization. Understanding and fighting these threats demands that veterinarians are a central part of society’s response to emerging pandemics. This speaks to another core strength of our teaching program – diversity across the spectrum of biomedical clinical training.

Certainly, most of our graduates will work in companion animal care, which is where the majority is needed. What distinguishes us is that we also provide new veterinarians for all aspects of food animal medicine, to work in research and regulatory medicine, for the military, in zoological and marine science, and for global health.

This is one of our most important strengths, and it is reflected in the strength of the DVM and graduate students that we are able to attract. In the past two years, our society has increasingly had to confront racism, bigotry and violence, a reckoning that is overdue. The college has worked for years to achieve growth in diversity and inclusion in our programs, and significant gains have been seen.

We have also learnt how much more we must do to create a community that is genuinely welcoming and safe for all of our people. In fact, the progress we have made has made it easier to see just how far we have to go.

Amongst our biggest challenges is the lack of representation in our faculty, and this cannot be addressed if we do not deliberately and purposefully build the faculty we need through our post-graduate training programs. Of all the changes we have made in the past decade the growth in diversity at the CVM remains the most fragile, and it’s the change that I personally hope will be sustained above all others.

This college enjoys phenomenal support from the people of North Carolina, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the remarkable generosity of the donors who support our program.

The impact is immediately tangible. Look at the remarkable Randall B. Terry, Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center. Opened in 2011, this facility has been the model for new hospitals across the nation and has drawn leading clinicians from around the world to work and teach in its stateof-the-art facilities.

Beyond bricks and mortar, philanthropy has had a massive impact on scholarship support for our students and helped us build amazing classes of remarkable young people. When I came to NC State, there were three endowed distinguished professorships but today we have 10 endowed distinguished professorships and two distinguished chairs.

These positions honor their recipients, provide them with critical resources and keep them at NC State. We could not do this without donor support and of all our donors the Randall B. Terry Jr. Charitable Foundation has been the most impactful.

Often choosing to stay out of the limelight so that other donors can be recognized, the Terry Foundation has frequently partnered with many of our donors to make their vision possible.

Looking to the future, the college is on a positive trajectory but will need creative strategies to continue and expand its vision. We are also confronting some major challenges in the near term, particularly the exhaustion of our hospital staff and faculty after nearly two years of incredibly challenging work under the threat of the pandemic. We need to address their need for relief, support and reward if we hope to sustain our programs. We must also take the new opportunities that are apparent. The demand for veterinarians is huge in our modern society, and the supply is not.

Our program benefits from its relatively small size, with just 100 students in each year. Nevertheless, this is a program that is ripe for expansion in the immediate future, and expansion is needed if we are to meet the need for veterinarians in the state and beyond. I am confident that only better things will come for the college of veterinary medicine and I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to work here. I believe that the leadership of NC State and the UNC System recognizes our accomplishments and potential and will get behind the new initiatives to come.

Whoever earns the opportunity to be the next leader of this college will enjoy a warm welcome and a phenomenal opportunity to lead what I believe is the greatest veterinary medical program in the world.

D. Paul Lunn Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine NC State University

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EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCE

New Equine Hospital, Dairy Barn in the Works

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Two new projects at the NC State Veterinary Medicine, long championed by CVM Dean Paul Lunn, will drastically expand the college’s equine service and modernize the iconic Teaching Animal Unit’s dairy barn.

Construction on the $5.5 million dairy barn upgrade is expected to begin before the end of the year. Architectural plans for the new equine hospital, which will be built adjacent to the existing equine service building on the CVM campus, may also be available by the end of the year, says Lunn. About $40 million of the $80 million needed for the equine hospital has been raised.

Lunn, who will step down as dean in January, talks about the importance of the two projects and what they mean for the future of the CVM. You’ve long stressed the importance of a new equine hospital for the CVM. Why has it been a priority of yours?

The success of this college has always depended on worldleading clinical excellence, and to achieve that we need state-of-the-art facilities. We have created an ambitious plan for a radically new hospital that will really deliver in the longer term. We will create an equine clinical campus that recognizes and supports the growing equine industry, with purpose-built state-of-the-art buildings and spaces.

The project cost will be over $80 million, and we have identified funding for half of that amount already. It will be an extension of our campus and complement the Randall B. Terry, Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center.

This is the No. 1 construction priority for the college. All of our hospital spaces, with the exception of the equine and food animal veterinary clinic, have been renovated or replaced since the opening of the college.

While the original equine and food animal veterinary clinic has served us well, the buildings no longer support the kind of modern practice that the equine industry, clinical education and research demand.

What will be the biggest changes?

We’re going to be able to create spaces that will support contemporary equine veterinary care for decades to come and add critically important research space to support our clinical scientists. We will also free up spaces within the existing building to expand current activities like the MRI service and the rehabilitation equine facility, and also to expand and renovate the food animal hospital.

How important is our equine medicine service to North Carolina and the surrounding region?

We have one of the strongest equine hospital practices on the East Coast. We have a long and storied history of being a world leader in equine gastrointestinal disease, particularly colic.

We're a referral center that has an extensive surgical and medical practice, but we’ve also extended that to ensure that we deliver world-class care for sports horse injuries, that we provide intensive care of neonatal foals and that we address a wide range of other equine medical problems.

We have a fantastic department of theriogenology, or reproductive medicine, within our equine service. In fall 2019 we opened a state-of-the-art equine reproductive clinic at Reedy Creek, which is really the first phase in creating our new equine hospital system.

How will the extension of our equine hospital system benefit the equine industry in North Carolina?

The role of the horse in society continues to evolve and expand. There's a renewed interest in the impact of the human-animal bond, which has been emphasized by how important animals have been as we continue to live through the pandemic. But as we live in increasingly urbanized and suburbanized environments, people are crying out for the opportunity to interact with animals in different ways.

Horses have a unique relationship with American society.

People value the horse enormously; they enjoy that relationship. You see this demonstrated in a variety of ways, everything from having a rock star’s daughter turn out to also be a world-class Olympic competitor to the many people for whom interaction with horses is therapeutic.

Being able to take care of all of these different horses, from the elite competitor to the companion horse or pony, is what we are all about and why we need a different set of facilities.

A rendering of the proposed new equine facility at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. Courtesy of Flad Architects.

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A lot of our new equine focus is primarily driven by the sports horse, the horse that people use for athletic activities. We need to have a modern facility to continue working with those animals to understand their diseases, diagnose them and continue to provide intensive care for acutely ill animals.

How significant is this moment where we are now, to be at that $40 million mark and being able to move forward with architectural plans?

I think this is enormous. I think this is an indication that our major donor, the R.B. Terry Charitable Foundation, and university leadership have accepted the critical importance of acting now to build this facility.

Our reputation as a veterinary science leader is significantly dependent on the strength of our clinical practice. We currently have world-class faculty working in circumstances that are

and every day. It reminds us not only of the CVM’s legacy but our current responsibility. Dairy production remains one of the most important components of animal production in North Carolina, in the United States and in many parts of the world.

The skills we teach within dairy health are applicable to many aspects of animal production. It’s vital that we have a dairy program here.

What do we need in a new dairy barn?

I think it’s part of the foundation of much of what we do on the farm. What we need is a dairy barn that allows us to demonstrate the most contemporary production practices that, above all, provide a healthy environment for cattle and a safe place to produce milk. That’s what this new construction will give us.

What is the TAU’s role in the well-rounded veterinary

ready for improvement.

education we provide our DVM students?

We have to provide our clinicians and researchers with the kinds of tools they need to sustain the quality of their work if we expect them to deliver for us and to stay with us — and to be able to attract the very best students. Our graduates who go into the horse industry have an enormous impact on sustaining that industry, especially in North Carolina.

The farm demonstrates contemporary agricultural production processes for all our students, and it also emphasizes environmental enhancements that improve animal welfare.

Being at this landmark, but knowing we still need another $40 million, what is it going to take to accomplish our goal?

We’re certainly always looking for donors who want to partner with us, but we are also looking to the state of North Carolina for support. The equine industry is a very important component of agriculture in North Carolina. It’s a growing and diversifying part of our state.

We can’t really expect the equine industry to thrive if we don’t make this investment now.

The dairy barn has also been an ongoing focus. Why? Our teaching farm, the Teaching Animal Unit, is a signature program for the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. It is featured very highly on our student and alumni lists of their most memorable experiences and favorite elements of our veterinary program — and rightly so.

Food security is a central responsibility of veterinarians and this profession — assuring society that their food is safe and that animal welfare standards are sustained. to the college.

It’s what we see through our windows into our backyard each

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The farm gives students the opportunity to participate in normal husbandry practices and in normal preventive health practices, for example, learning how to collect a milk sample for microbiological examination and how to handle a cow safely.

It’s important, particularly for students who have had limited exposure to the dairy industry, for them to gain experience so that they can appreciate that it's accessible to them as a future career path.

What does it provide students who may not be focused on farm animal medicine?

Even if a student’s goal is to work in a different component of veterinary medicine, it's essential that our students understand the role of the veterinarian in that agricultural setting. Should there ever be, for example, a foreign animal disease crisis such as foot and mouth disease in this country, many veterinarians who normally do not work in production animal medicine would be temporarily transferred to infectious disease response. All of our students need a foundational understanding of animal husbandry for all species.

~Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine

A rendering of the proposed new equine hospital at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. Courtesy of Flad Architects.

Equine Hospital Exterior

Dairy Facility Exterior

A digital rendering of the new dairy barn at the Teaching Animal Unit.

Courtesy of HH Architecture/Erdy McHenry Architecture

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THE NEW FACES OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

For far too long, institutional barriers and system led to veterinary medicine’s crippling lack of inclu NC State College of Veterinary Medicine’s class how the tide may be turning.

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From left to right: The class of 2025's Imani Anderson, the class of 2024's Christine Zavala, the class of 2025's Malik Chennault and the class of 2022's Daniel Mejia with a friend outside at the CVM's Teaching Animal Unit. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

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mic racism have usiveness. The of 2025 shows 8 8

Three class of 2025 students practice clinical skills during August orientation. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

Without hearing a word, Imani Anderson was told veterinary medicine didn’t want her.

The incident was the first time Anderson felt discriminated against just because of her hair. It felt like an automatic cutoff for people of color in veterinary medicine.

Like any proactive pre-vet student, Anderson aimed high. While studying at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, she was initially interested in equine medicine. She looked for an internship in the horse capital of the world — Kentucky.

Suddenly, Anderson, who had considered a career in veterinary medicine as early as elementary school, felt as though there was no point in even trying. Anderson called her mom who helped talk her off the ledge.

While reviewing an equine facility’s website, under “requirements” it noted that students shouldn’t apply if they “have a beard, have locks or any other unkempt hairstyle,” says Anderson.

“After I saw the statement, I looked through all of their pictures on their website. They had no people of color anywhere,” she says. “I said to myself, ‘Well, I guess I should have known better than to apply.’ And I shouldn’t ever feel like that.”

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“I told her that it was definitely discouraging because this is the kind of field that I’m going into,” says Anderson. “Knowing the statistics at the time, there were a little over 1% of African Americans in the field. It was like, what am I doing here?”

Instead of giving up, Anderson refocused. She started going out more to NC A&T’s farm, learning more about agriculture, spending time with dairy beef, swine and small ruminants.

Anderson found a possible answer to what she was doing here. Now, she’s a member of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine class of 2025.

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“I got this bigger and deeper connection with veterinary medicine because it started teaching me more about small farmers and rural communities,” she says. “And that’s an area in veterinary medicine that honestly needs a lot more assistance than anything.”

Every veterinary student has their own story, but for many of those historically underrepresented in veterinary medicine — especially because of racial and ethnic identity — their stories are similar to Anderson’s.

For too long there have been barriers to veterinary medicine that have ingrained overwhelming sameness in the profession. There have been decades upon decades of underrepresented students feeling a deep lack of support and understanding.

In many instances, underrepresented students first see a veterinarian who looks like them when they start college — or veterinary school. Sometimes, they see one on TV before they see one in person.

For those in veterinary school, as they head to class and walk by decades of framed portraits of veterinary school class composites, they often can count the number of students of color on one hand.

For too long, stories like Anderson’s have been common. At NC State, the story is changing.

A Breakthrough Year When the NC State CVM class of 2025 met for the first time at orientation in August, it felt different.

Under a tent on the campus’ front lawn, masked students met each other for the first time, and orientation was streamlined a bit to reflect COVID-19 safety precautions.

It looked different, too. The class of 2025 hit a high mark at the NC State CVM for the percentage of underrepresented minorities in veterinary medicine within one class. Among the class, a record 37% out of the 99 current class of 2025 students identify as something other than solely white. That number includes a record 18 who identify in some part as African American.

The makeup of the class of 2025 also reflects the wider scope of URVMs. As defined by the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, historically underrepresented populations in the field include those “disproportionately impacted due to legal, cultural, or social claimed impediments in the United States,” including those disadvantaged because of their gender, race, ethnicity,

as well as geographic, educational and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Creating a veterinary profession reflective of the world around us has been slow, but progress is being made.

Since the first black student, Tracy Hanner, was admitted to the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine as part of its second class in 1982, the total URVM population at the school has gone from just a few students each year at the most to an average of 25% from the class of 2018 through the class of 2024. The average was just 11% for the four CVM classes before 2018.

During the past 15 years, the number of URVM students in the United States has increased by 11%, according to the AAVMC. Other figures are not as encouraging. Though the number of racially and ethnically underrepresented students in veterinary medicine has doubled since 2005, according to Insight Into Diversity, the number of Black vets in America dropped from 2.1% of the total veterinary population in 2006 to below 1% in 2019.

When The Atlantic called veterinary medicine the “whitest profession” in the United States in 2013, 92 percent of veterinarians were white. Eight years later, it’s still 90%.

“It would be a mistake to think that numbers alone tell the story or that we should feel secure that we’ve done everything that needs to be done — far from it,” says CVM Dean Paul Lunn. “This is a vital step that we’ve been able to recruit a class like this.

Nevertheless, we’ve made a promise to them that they’re going to find an inclusive environment where they feel accepted, where they feel that they can thrive and where they feel that they’re safe.

“We need to be a place where they can be themselves.”

At the CVM, fixing the problem didn’t happen simply by upping the numbers. It was about acknowledging and understanding that there was a problem in the first place.

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Walking the Walk For the class of 2024’s Nia Powell, finding a school that fostered an inclusive atmosphere was the biggest factor in choosing a veterinary school.

As an undergraduate at the University of Missouri at Columbia, she experienced racial unrest firsthand, as students led several protests highlighting systemic inequity.

One event was called “Racism Lives Here.”

“I mean, I’ve been Black all my life. Obviously, I’ve experienced this stuff forever, but that was the first time I saw it from a standpoint where I realized that people really didn’t want me there,” says Powell. “I refused to go to another environment where I was going to have that experience.

“I needed to go someplace where I was not going to be the only person who looks like me and where people were going to appreciate that. People can say that they support diversity all day long, but I do feel like it’s happening at NC State. I’ve never felt less than here.”

Over the past 15 years, the CVM has done many things other veterinary schools have done to address diversity and inclusion. There have been scholarships and recruiting initiatives. There have been book clubs and discussion circles and speakers. Clubs have been formed for URVM students to support each other. Last year, the college launched the inaugural Fall Program on Race and Representation.

Something else happened 15 years ago — Allen Cannedy joined the CVM as its director of diversity and multicultural affairs. While many URVM students share stories of adversity and systemic roadblocks, their stories at NC State also often include Cannedy.

Much of the slow but steady progress toward inclusion at the CVM can be attributed to Cannedy.

He helped push for an admissions committee that had URVM representation itself. He advocated for eliminating the GRE requirement to be considered for admission, after studies over the decades have shown that as an admissions tool for professional degree programs, it disadvantages minority students because of built-in racial, gender and socioeconomic biases, according to the AAVMC. The NC State CVM no longer requires GRE scores for admission, but 75% of AAVMC-affiliated schools in the United States still do, says the organization.

Another long-standing barrier for URVM students: required experience hours. Previous veterinary medicine experience hours required for CVM admission were as high as 1,200. It was gradually cut down over the past decade — in half, then down to 400 and finally down to the 200 required hours for admission today.

That change impacted many students. Anderson at one point didn’t have a car and was helping to support her mom, who raised her alone. She had to find a job that offered experience but also one that paid. That often meant working at an emergency room every weekend from 4 p.m. to sometimes 4 a.m.

The class of 2024’s Christine Zavala, who identifies as Latina, started working in high school as soon as she was old enough so she could begin saving for college — and to help pay for a car so she could drive herself to NC State for undergraduate orientation. She had to continue working as a college student to help pay for school.

“I didn’t grow up with a lot of money. Because of that, I couldn’t just go volunteer for hours a week because I needed to be at work,” she says. “I couldn’t just work for free, like a lot of non-people of color can do.”

When URVM student voices aren’t heard, Cannedy listens.

He has forged numerous relationships with students over the years, often inviting them to shadow him on farm calls he makes as a small ruminant veterinarian. Sometimes during the calls, they talk about inclusion in veterinary medicine, sometimes they don’t. And when they do talk about it, he has always been honest.

Allen Cannedy, director of diversity and multicultural affairs, leads a student workshop during the class of 2025's orientation. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

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“I remember asking Dr. Cannedy about what diversity was like at the CVM and he said, ‘It’s not great, but we’re working on it,’” says Zavala. “I understood that. There’s so little representation of Latin people in vet med. It’s hard to find a mentor that understands what you’re going through. He’s really who I talked to a lot about it.”

There was a time when Cannedy knew every single URVM student who entered the CVM. Now, he doesn’t. That’s a good thing, he says.

“It’s not a made-up thing that if you give an underrepresented individual that is capable and competent and that deserves to be here, a chance to be here, that they’ll be successful,” says Cannedy “Now we’re not just talking about that, we’ve done it. So let’s see just how powerful it can be.”

When Lunn first arrived at the CVM in 2012, the first thing Cannedy asked him was what he planned to do to address the lack of diversity and inclusion. Working in concert with substantive admissions changes was a further internal change within the CVM community. In 2016, the college committed to becoming a values-driven community, with one of four shared core values being “we practice inclusivity.”

“We know that it is our diversity that makes us stronger,” the values statement notes.

They weren’t empty words. A big part of the shift was helping the campus community understand how a history of inequity had led veterinary medicine to this point.

Discussions about inclusion have long been a part of orientation, but starting in 2016, a new house system brought together students, faculty and staff into different, diverse “houses.” An Office of Diversity was created and a diversity committee was formed to not just discuss issues of inequity, but take substantive action (one recent creation: a bias incident report system).

As a rash of incidents shined a harsh light on inequality in America over the past few years, it also highlighted veterinary medicine’s crippling sameness.

When violence repeatedly occurred —the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, for example — leadership acknowledged the pain but also took a stand.

“This horrific violence against Black people degrades us. It can have no place in a civilized country and we must speak out against it at every turn,” Lunn said in a publicly released video statement.

Since then, through emails and town halls, Lunn has regularly addressed the type of hate against African Americans, Asians and the Latinx community that many CVM students know too well.

“You can hear his emotion,” says Safari Richardson, a member of the class of 2024 who identifies as Black. “Just knowing that we have a dean who cares about these things I feel like that sets the overall tone of the university. Because I feel like if the dean doesn’t say anything, then they probably don’t care. And then the rest of the university probably won’t care enough to make any changes.”

Feeling Alone At the traditional white coat ceremony, the incoming CVM class is welcomed into the veterinary field. A person of their choice — usually a family member, mentor or friend — joins them on stage and places a white medical coat over their shoulders.

“My mother was there with me and her first thought was, I don’t belong here," says the class of 2022’s Daniel Mejia, who was born in New York and identifies as Latin American.

“She was around all these people who come from families of doctors and are people of higher education. My mom’s a housekeeper at UNC Hospitals. She was a single mother.

She had to make a lot of sacrifices, and without those sacrifices, I wouldn’t be here.

“When she said she doesn’t feel like she belongs here that kind of made me feel the same way, too.”

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From his first day on campus, Mejia didn’t know how things would be for him at the CVM, but he felt a sense of excitement right away when his class received their house system assignments. It was that type of enthusiasm, he says, that drew him to NC State in the first place. “It almost felt like I wasn’t going to be treated any different, that everyone is just kind of the same,” he says.

Now beginning his final year at the CVM, Mejia has felt welcomed at the school and within the Latinx student community.

He co-founded the Latinx Veterinary Medical Association student chapter on campus, where students from Puerto Rico, Mexico and other countries, as well as those who identify as white, Black and Asian Latinx, can support each other, talk about what it’s like to be a veterinary student in America when English is not the primary language for some students, discuss shared perspectives on classism and social economics — or just take a break from classes together.

He says he doesn’t feel alone or unwanted, spending a good amount of time being open and proud of his background — and sharing it with others. Through the years, it’s the chats with students, faculty and staff where he brought up issues with his identity and concerns about inclusion that made a difference. In those little moments, there was and still is comfort in having people who are willing to listen even if they may not entirely understand.

“Once people start seeing people like them in this field, in this community, that they can reach out to for mentorship and help, people are not going to feel alone and feel guilty for that,” says Mejia. “I think it will take a while before we see those changes.”

That lack of representation — and having others around them who can relate to and share their experience — has kept many URVM students away from the field.

Anderson grew up in Raleigh with several over the years and never saw a minority veterinarian until a few years ago.

One of the first she met was a 2015 CVM graduate, Andrea Gentry-Apple, one of her animal sciences professors at NC A&T. When Richardson shadowed at her first veterinary clinic in Greensboro, all of the veterinarians were white, all of the veterinary technicians were white and all of the receptionists were white. The only person of color was the cleaning lady, who was Black.

Even students who come to NC State from a historically black college or university have felt isolated before.

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The class of 2025, the most diverse in CVM history, mingles on the first day of orientation. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

The class of 2025’s Malik Chennault went to Howard University and majored in biology.

“When I would say oh, I’m wanting to go be a veterinarian, everyone would say, ‘What? Like, what? I’ve never met an African American vet before,’” he says.

When he was accepted to NC State, Chennault first reached out to Cannedy and then connected with Powell, who gave him a campus tour. During that tour, he met a Black CVM clinical professor, Mariea Ross-Estrada as well as several other Black students.

“I was floored. I said maybe this is the place for me,” says Chennault. “My mindset coming to vet school was purely based on education. I knew that outside of Tuskegee University, diversity wasn’t necessarily a strong point anywhere. My goal was to be a vet, so at the end of the day, that’s all that really mattered. If I’m going to be the only Black person, that’s OK. "And so to come here and see it exceed the status quo so much, it just meant more than I could say. It gave me hope.”

Though more faculty and staff inclusion is a long-term goal at the CVM, having supportive and empathetic teachers 13

“I could go into a large animal hospital and I could be surrounded by nobody that looked like me or anybody that shared similar experiences,” says Gonzalez. “But I knew that when the day was done, I could call up my girls and we could hang out and banter back and forth and talk about our days.”

Gonzalez committed to making the veterinary school experience easier for those who are different, making it more comfortable for those who feel singled out. She never wants to see a student feel like they have to hide parts of their identity or apologize for an accent. For five years, she led the CVM diversity committee.

“It drives me every day. It’s a responsibility,” says Gonzalez.

“I’m appreciative that I can be here to serve as a sounding board for them. I had wonderful mentors, but it’s different when you have someone who has shared in those experiences and can share with you how they dealt with it all.”

When CVM students see someone who looks like them on campus, they see themselves in veterinary medicine.

on campus like Ross-Estrada and Liara Gonzalez, makes a tremendous impact.

Gonzalez, an associate professor of gastroenterology and equine surgery, relates to the experience of many of the college’s URVM students. Gonzalez has long felt as though not much had changed on the inclusion front from when she was in vet school, even though she graduated in 2006.

“I feel like maybe finally we’ve broken through. I feel like finally we’ve been able to topple this wall where, despite a lot of efforts, we were only moving the needle a touch,” Gonzalez says. “And hopefully this means that we’ll see nothing but progressive improvements and advances in years to come.”

Gonzalez, who identifies as Latina and Jewish, grew up in the northeast corner of Connecticut where her family was the only Puerto Rican and only Jewish family in town that she knew of.

In veterinary school, she had trouble fitting in during her first year until she got to know a group of students who all happened to be Black, indigenous or people of color. They became her support system. They shared life experiences that were similar even though they were culturally different. That felt freeing.

Cannedy’s support was a big factor in Richardson coming to NC State. The first time Zavala saw a Latina vet was when she worked as a vet assistant in the cardiology service with Teresa DeFrancesco, professor of cardiology and ICU critical care.

Working with her, Zavala says, made it feel possible that she could be a veterinarian, too.

And as the United States continues to diversify rapidly on cultural and racial lines, the need for wider representation in the veterinary community is palpable. More people of all races now own pets, including 65% of white households, 61% of Hispanic households and about 37% of Black households, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

That includes a 44% increase of Hispanic pet owners and a 24% increase in Black pet owners between 2008 and 2018. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that jobs for veterinarians and technicians will grow by 16% by 2029.

“For an underrepresented minority student, seeing a minority faculty or staff member transforms their thinking in ways that you couldn’t imagine — and it can change the profession,” says Cannedy. “When anybody sees an individual that looks like them, that they can identify with, performing those duties and those procedures that they themselves want to do, that validates them. It did for me.”

An Inclusive Future The class of 2025’s Hannah Wubbenhorst has long felt the lingering crush of feeling ostracized, even by people who she would consider part of her own community.

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Wubbenhorst, who identifies as African American and whose dad is white and mom is Black, says she has shared with others what it has felt like being “rejected as a multiethnic person who’s several shades lighter than average.” She shared that experience with fellow students during CVM orientation.

“Inclusivity is the buzzword these days, so it really comes down to the attitude of leadership for me,” says Wubbenhorst. ”Every place is going to talk about it, but it’s more about being proactive and taking into account what underrepresented minorities or people from different backgrounds are dealing with.

“That’s one thing I enjoyed about orientation. Regardless of who we were, regardless of how smart we seemed, or whether we were white or Black or Latina or Asian or whatever else, we all felt heard and we all had to kind of stretch and get out of our comfort zone. That’s not easy, but it felt real.”

Wubbenhorst almost didn’t apply to veterinary school. She saw others with more experience than she had and felt like she couldn’t compete. On the edge of waiting a year, she had lunch with Cannedy.

She told him that she didn’t think she could apply to vet school.

“And he looked at me and he said, ‘No, you should. Your experiences might not seem like enough, but you as a person are definitely enough and you can do this,’” Wubbenhorst says.

“He was the one who convinced me, regardless of how inferior I might’ve felt in terms of those experiences and accomplishments, to still go for it. That there’s more to it than that.”

It’s that unrelenting support that will help increase inclusivity in the future. In 2005, a year after Cannedy began his diversity work at the CVM, the college admitted eight African American students, at that time the most diverse class the college ever had.

“It was extremely difficult for them because our culture, our community, was not quite ready to accept them for who they were," Cannedy says. "It just honestly wasn't. I won’t say that there won’t be some challenges in that area for this group of students to face, but they will not face it the way that group did back in 2005.

“We have come so far within our community of raising awareness and understanding and acceptance. Acceptance. Not tolerance, but acceptance.”

Lunn, who will step down as dean in January 2022, knows the fight for inclusion has just begun and won’t ever stop. The last thing the class of 2025 should do, he says, is send the college a message that it can relax inclusion efforts or the support it gives.

“I think this journey to inclusion is something we’ll be going down for a very, very long time to come. It’s something we have to be conscious of and work actively to address at all times,” Lunn says. "Inclusion and diversity will never be secondary issues. It will always be a priority within the college.”

And it will always be a priority for many of the college’s students. Almost all of the students we spoke with for this story are either currently involved in work to promote inclusion in veterinary medicine or plan to prioritize it as part of their careers.

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Powell is the class of 2024’s diversity chair, serves on the CVM diversity committee and is a pre-veterinary adviser for the Black DVM Network, among other activities related to diversity.

The college recently launched a regular series called Cope & Connect, an in-person and recently virtual space for BIPOC students held weekly and led by Laura Castro, director of CVM counseling services. Powell is pushing for such a safe space to become permanent. So is Gonzalez.

Zavala once served as a panelist for a Q&A with minority high school students who were interested in veterinary medicine.

She said it only took 30 minutes to answer their questions, but it felt like those 30 minutes meant a lot of them. Zavala’s long-term goal: opening a low-cost clinic for underrepresented communities, where they can go to a vet who they know can speak their language.

“It’s one thing to have a diverse class and accept more diverse people, but that’s only half of what we need,” Zavala says. “We also need them to feel supported. It doesn’t do us any good to have people here if they don’t feel at home.”

Mentorship is a big part of Richardson’s daily life as a veterinary student. She frequently looks to connect with other students of color — and to tell them to keep going.

“Without the mentors I had, I couldn’t say that I would be sitting in front of you right now, having this interview, so I do try as much as I can to be a mentor,” says Richardson. “We can have difficult conversations, like what it’s like being Black and being Black in vet med. I always tell them that even though our field is not known for its diversity, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people like you out there. It doesn’t mean that you can’t get through it. It doesn’t mean that you can’t succeed in vet med.”

Getting introduced to veterinary medicine early, says Chennault, is the best way to build representation in the future. So many minority students are not introduced to these professions, let alone ones who live in urban communities, he says, and improved access to public health education, in general, would also benefit so many students.

"Be the first, so you don’t have to be the last,” says Chennault.

"And always, regardless of color, do what you want to do, be who you want to be. Always show people that you can do it, that it is possible for someone who looks like you.”

And Anderson knows that URVM students like her may long face the same type of barriers she felt when researching that equine experience in Kentucky. “It’s not worth your time,” “I didn’t know there were Black veterinarians,” “you’re not going to get in'' — those statements will always be said. Whether they will actually be heard is another matter. “I stopped hearing statements like those once I started working even harder to get in,” says Anderson. “It starts with you. If you want to be the change, you work to be the change.” ~ Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine 16

Dean Lunn's Legacy Paul Lunn To Step Down As CVM Dean In January

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NC State College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Paul Lunn, who led the college through a period of substantial growth and sustained world influence, will step down from his post in January 2022.

Lunn, who has led the CVM since 2012, is leaving to become dean of his alma mater, the University of Liverpool’s School of Veterinary Science.

Warwick Arden, NC State University executive vice chancellor and provost, said a search for the next CVM dean was begun.

“I am proud of the college’s commitment to providing cutting-edge veterinary education through recruiting worldleading faculty and to diversity, equity and inclusion among faculty, staff and students,” says Lunn. “Their efforts are ingrained in the success of my time as dean, and I am excited to see how the college will grow in the future.”

During Lunn’s time as dean, the CVM grew its class size from 80 to 100 and increased faculty positions by 33%.

The NC State Veterinary Hospital’s caseload grew by 40%, reflecting an expansion of the hospital’s innovative and comprehensive specialty services.

“He has been a champion of the CVM community, keeping the wellbeing of college faculty, staff, students and house officers as his top priority,” said Arden of Lunn in a statement.

The college has seen tremendous growth in philanthropic support during Lunn’s nine year tenure, rising 150% and leading to increased funding for student scholarships.

“It is largely due to Dean Lunn’s leadership and advocacy that we were able to achieve such an increase in support,” says Dianne Dunning, associate dean for advancement.

“From Day One, he had a vision for what the NC State CVM could achieve.”

Research funding was doubled under Lunn’s tenure to over $20 million, addressing everything from groundbreaking cancer research to studies on stem cell treatments and fueling advancements in large animal medicine.

Kate Meurs, senior associate dean for research and graduate studies, keeps a white piece of paper in her office with “$20 million” written on it. When Lunn began his tenure, research funding was at $8 million.

“When we started working together, he said, ‘We can get to this,’” says Meurs. “And we did. He has a vision. He has a great belief in our community and what it can achieve. You sense and deeply know his belief in what this community is capable of."

Meurs has been inspired by Lunn’s support for everyone in the CVM community, from the students and trainees to faculty and staff. He has always been encouraging and that is contagious.

“Character counts,” says Meurs. “Dean Lunn’s care and respect for this community are always present. He has great vision and has had high expectations for this college and has motivated us by saying, ‘We can achieve this. What do we need to do to get there?’ And that has got us to where we are today.”

Lunn said the CVM’s collaborative environment made him a better leader. He said many of the college’s accomplishments during his tenure — diversity in the student body, growth in the hospital and research — came from collaborative thinking and strategic planning from a wide variety of student, faculty and staff voices.

“I think that any organization that’s dependent on the leadership of a single individual is in trouble,” says Lunn.

“I think our best moments as a college, which I look back on with the most pride, are those when we worked together to a purpose.

“If you don’t engage the community, there’ll be no engagement in the work that needs to be done.

Photo by Marc Hall/NC State University

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Lunn helped diversify and modernize the college and its research. Under Lunn, new construction projects at the CVM included the Biomedical Partnership Center and the equine theriogenology facility. More projects Lunn championed are in the works, including a modern dairy facility and a new equine hospital. Kathy Lunn, Lunn’s wife, is an associate professor of small animal internal medicine at the CVM. “As a dean, Dr. Lunn brought a diverse set of skills to the job,” says Steve Marks, associate dean and director of veterinary medical services. “He has been an advocate of the tripartite mission of service, education and research.

"His leadership over the past nine years has allowed the veterinary school to be successful and have a strategic plan for the future. Dr. Kathy Lunn is a gifted clinician and educator, and they will both be sorely missed.”

Lunn helped lead multiple renovations within the hospital, laboratory space and classrooms at the CVM. Under his leadership, the college’s curriculum received a major revision.

He has been a passionate advocate for veterinary influence on the world, leading to the CVM’s global health program.

Sid Thakur, director of global health at the CVM and NC State, has had a close working relationship with Lunn since Thakur arrived at the college. He worked with Lunn to lead a cluster hire of infectious disease faculty and has traveled the world with him, forming global health medicine partnerships in countries including Senegal and Morocco.

“I’ve seen him the happiest when he’s interacting with farmers and villagers with their animals next to them, asking about their donkeys,” says Thakur. “He has been an amazing leader. I cannot stress what a difference it makes when you’re traveling abroad and your dean isn’t just backing you up. He’s standing right next to you.

“To see his leadership both inside and outside the boundaries of the United States has been really enlightening and an amazing experience for me. He believed in us and still believes in us.”

Earlier this year, Lunn helped spearhead the effort to make the CVM home to COVID-19 testing labs for the entire NC State community.

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Chatting with class of 2025 students during orientation in August.

Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

Throughout the pandemic, his leadership helped bring clarity and calm to clinicians and staff. He ensured DVM students that their education remained a top priority and that their training would not be diminished. Two CVM classes have graduated during the pandemic.

“One of the most important principles during a pandemic is to identify the best strategy and to implement it early,” says Lunn. “I think because of the way we approached this, with an evidence-based approach focused on risk management, we’ve been able to implement prevention measures at the earliest possible opportunity.

Though Lunn came from an equine background, he made sure that he unfailingly supported the wide range of veterinary focuses with the college. He listened. He participated. He was there for you.

“In the years since I joined, I have been grateful for his mentorship, willingness to learn and for his support for education and other missions in the college,” says Nelson.

“The college is losing an enthusiastic, innovative leader, but will remain stronger for his years of service.

“I couldn’t be happier for him as he takes on new challenges.”

Lunn made diversity and inclusion in the veterinary profession and at the CVM a top priority throughout his entire time at the CVM. A diversity committee of faculty, staff and students was formed during his deanship. Through divisive and troubling times and news that highlighted racial inequity in America, Lunn never hesitated to reach out to students, faculty and staff, leading frank discussions and providing safe spaces for the community to discuss the world around them.

“Dean Lunn has been very instrumental in helping to create and sustain diversity and inclusion at our CVM,” says Allen Cannedy, CVM director of diversity and multicultural affairs.

“He is a no-nonsense leader and refuses to accept ignorance as an excuse for unacceptable behavior.

Greg Lewbart, professor of aquatic, wildlife and zoological medicine, says Lunn has been extremely supportive of exotic animal medicine during his time as dean, and that the program grew tremendously under his leadership.

“He leads by example and is very transparent with regards to his vision and goals,” says Lewbart. “Despite his busy schedule and the many demands on his time he once spent a full hour treating turtles with students in the Turtle Rescue Team clinic.

“He has a fun, self-deprecating sense of humor, and I will greatly miss trading barbs with him at the annual awards banquet.”

Four years ago, Lunn hired Laura Nelson to join the college as associate dean and director of academic affairs. She says Lunn’s vision, support and leadership were key to her accepting the role.

Dean Paul Lunn (left) and Megan Jacob, associate professor and director of Diagnostic Laboratories, give Chancellor Randy Woodson and Chief of Staff and Secretary of the University Paula Gentius a tour of the CVM's new COVID-19 testing lab in early 2021.

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At the 2018 groundbreaking of the Reedy Creek Equine Farm. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

“I have no doubt that he will bring many positive changes that will greatly benefit the University of Liverpool and our veterinary profession.”

Before coming to NC State, Lunn headed Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Clinical Sciences and served as a faculty member, associate dean and hospital director at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Lunn grew up in a farming community in north Wales and was in private practice before pursuing additional clinical training. He received his bachelor’s of veterinary science from the University of Liverpool, a master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.

In addition to clinical work, Lunn’s research has focused on equine immunology and infectious disease, particularly equine viruses and diseases impacting working equids in low-income countries.

He currently serves as president of the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges and is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Association of Veterinary Clinicians, the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Association and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

“I want to sincerely thank Paul for his leadership of the College of Veterinary Medicine and his collaborative partnerships with many other colleges and units, as they have been of great benefit to NC State as a whole,” said Arden. “While we will miss him greatly, because of his efforts the college is stronger than ever and is positioned to grow its influence as a national leader in veterinary medicine.”

~ Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine 21

Dean Lunn's Timeline at the CVM

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Meet the Class of 2025 After reviewing 1,661 applications, the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is pleased to welcome the newest class of 100 future clinicians and scientists.

The class of 2025 will be an important part of the CVM’s effort to restore more normal operations after a trying year of disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. After orientation, the group began classes on Aug. 9 The incoming class ranges in age from 19 to 35, with an average age of 24, and its members hail from 15 different states and Puerto Rico. Eighty students in the incoming class are from North Carolina. Their backgrounds are varied and reflect the diverse interests and talents of this special group.

One of the new class members served a fellowship working on COVID-19 research for the National Institutes of Health. Another, while working as an animal control officer, was part of the first successful investigation and prosecution of an animal hoarding case involving amphibians and reptiles in the Raleigh area. And one intrepid member of the class of 2025 hiked the entire 273-mile length of the Long Trail in Vermont.

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26: members of the incoming class who are first-generation college students 23

82-18: The ratio of women to men

35: The number of NC State undergraduates

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EXTRAORDINARY SUPPORT

Family’s Heartfelt Gift Creates Lasting Impact with New Distinguished Chair

Birkenheuer (left) with Hayden and Don Quattlebaum and a portrait of their son, Andy. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine.

Andy Quattlebaum loved the outdoors and animals, especially his beloved yellow Labrador retriever, Oak. He was an active, engaged student at Clemson University in 2019 when he died unexpectedly at age 22.

His parents, Don and Hayden Blackwell Quattlebaum, of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, were devastated. As a way to honor their son and channel their grief in a positive direction, they looked for special opportunities to provide meaningful and lasting support for Andy’s greatest passions.

One of those special opportunities resulted in the establishment of the Andy Quattlebaum Distinguished Chair in Infectious Disease Research at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine.

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“This fulfills our goal for our family foundation,” Hayden Quattlebaum says. “It’s perfect, because Andy would want us to do it.”

Professor of Internal Medicine Adam Birkenheuer is the recipient of the Quattlebaum Chair. Birkenheuer is an internationally recognized expert on vector-borne infections of dogs and cats, most commonly spread by fleas, ticks and lice.

The Quattlebaums’ gift of $500,000 combined with other private contributions and matching funds from the R.B. Terry, Jr. Charitable Foundation and the Distinguished Professors Endowment Fund is $2.67 million, enough to surpass the $2.5 million threshold to establish a distinguished chair position.

Birkenheuer’s is the second distinguished chair at the CVM. The first was awarded to Natasha Olby, the Dr. Kady M. Gjessing and Rahna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology.

“Through their generosity, the Andy Quattlebaum Distinguished Chair will be able to honor Andy’s love for animals by putting their needs first,” says Birkenheuer.

Endowed distinguished professorships and chairs, such as the Andy Quattlebaum Distinguished Chair in Infectious Disease Research, are essential to NC State’s success as a university.”

Birkenheuer has a passion for infectious disease research going back to the beginning of his career. He soon found that lack of funding for research could be a major obstacle to progress.

Thanks to the work of the North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation, Birkenheuer and the Quattlebaums found each other, and the fit was ideal for each. And each is grateful for what the other is doing.

“I realized that there were many gaps in what we knew about infections that primarily affected dogs and cats,” he says, “and there wasn’t a lot of funding available to solve the many problems we faced. Despite those challenges we were able to scrape by with small grants and creativity to answer a lot of questions.”

“When we found out that the chair was for infectious disease research, that was very important to us,” Don Quattlebaum says. “We’ve had issues with Lyme disease in the past. This is a hugely important thing for humans and animals. It’s a way to help the entire world, and we’re thrilled to be able to help with that.”

Birkenheuer says the distinguished chair will make a significant and lasting impact.

The Quattlebaums have a long standing connection with Clemson, which has also been a beneficiary of their generosity, but their connection with CVM is also strong.

“That amount of money in an endowed fund would not only generate enough funding to support a large portion of a research program for one person’s career, it would create a legacy that would support our mission and college excellence forever,” he says.

The Quattlebaums were there on Aug. 11 for the formal presentation of the distinguished chair professorship to Birkenheuer, held outdoors on the hearth of the college’s campus. Friends, family and colleagues gathered for the ceremony, which included remarks from CVM Dean Paul Lunn and NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson.

“We are so grateful that Don and Hayden decided to remember and honor their son with this generous gift that will help many other animals and people through infectious disease research,” Lunn said. “And I could not be prouder of professor Birkenheuer’s accomplishments. This chair is the best way to recognize his selfless commitment to veterinary medicine and to ensure that infectious disease research remains a strength for years to come.”

Woodson also reflected on the far-reaching impact of the Quattlebaums’ donation. “I would like to thank Don and Hayden Quattlebaum for their investment in NC State and this important research, and for choosing to honor their son in such a special way. We are humbled to be part of his legacy,” he said. “Infectious disease research is a key priority here at NC State. This past year has been a stark reminder of how vulnerable our world is to disease and why it is so important to have brilliant science researchers, like Dr. Birkenheuer, working to find new cures, treatments and vaccinations.

“We’ve taken several of our animals to the hospital at NC State over the years,” says Don Quattlebaum, “including Andy’s dog.

They’ve always been very attentive and done fantastic work.

The interns and residents provide wonderful care, and they’re obviously very enthusiastic about what they’re learning and doing.. It’s a wonderful thing, and the best care any animal can get.”

Animals have been a big part of life in the Quattlebaum family.

Over the years, they’ve had six dogs, five cats, two horses and a turtle. The family has arranged for medical care for rescue dogs they have taken in, and even created an endowment to establish a clinic at an animal rescue shelter in Georgetown, South Carolina, several years ago. The clinic not only provides medical care for rescues, but also for economically distressed pet owners.

Helping to establish the distinguished chair at NC State was a logical next step.

“I was very pleased to know how excited Dr. Birkenheuer was.

The professor was just thrilled and it brought warmth to my heart,” says Hayden Quattlebaum.

The current pandemic is providing an all-too-vivid illustration of the importance of the kind of research enabled by the Quattlebaum’s gift.

“Endowed funding at this level will not only directly help animals by allowing us to perform companion animal infectious disease research to benefit dogs and cats, it will help us train and support the next generation of clinicians and scientists,” says Birkenheuer. ~Steve Volstad/NC State Veterinary Medicine

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40 Years Later: A Look Back on the Very First Day at the CVM The class of 1985 at its Oath and Hooding ceremony in May 1985.

On Aug. 27, 1981, two years after construction began on the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine — and more than a year before the buildings were actually completed — the first group of 40 pioneering students began their DVM training surrounded by mud and construction crews.

The very first veterinary classroom for the initial 20 men and 20 women to enter the CVM was held in a cow barn. Four years later, they became the class of 1985.

On the 40th anniversary of the first day of CVM classes, we asked four of the college’s first students — Randy Jones, David Rives, Patricia Rynders and Mark Thompson — to give us a behind-the-scenes look at that momentous day.

The NC State School of Veterinary Medicine (as it was called in 1981) was established in 1979 after years of planning. A groundbreaking was held in the crisp snow and ice in January 1980. Soon, a group of students were applying to launch their careers in veterinary medicine.

Rives: As an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill, I was encouraged by some friends to join them in applying to dental school. It did not take long for me to realize dentistry was not the path for me. I completed the first year and received my B.S. in dentistry.

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I then withdrew from dental school and began exploring my options in veterinary medicine. North Carolina was at that time operating under a contract system with Auburn, Tuskegee and Ohio State to accept students into their veterinary programs. I applied through this process for two years, but to no avail. Apparently, dropping out of one professional curriculum is not viewed favorably by another.

Jones: I applied as a junior to the out-of-state schools that North Carolina had contracts with. I was not accepted.

My senior year was the first year NC State University took applications. I applied and was miraculously accepted. To say I was excited is an understatement.

Rynders: I grew up in Raleigh and attended NC State for my undergraduate degree. Plans for a veterinary school had been underway for a number of years, and luckily the acceptance of the first class coincided with my eligibility to apply.

Thompson: My family moved from Vermont to North Carolina in 1979, and I transferred from the University of Vermont to NC State for the last two years of my bachelor’s degree. I was thrilled to be accepted to the first class. I had considered applying to Cornell … but after visiting there I decided NC State would be a better fit for me.

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Rives: I accepted a research technician position in the NC State University Department of Poultry Science in 1979. This exposure laid the groundwork for my career and bolstered my application for admission to the first class. I remember a tremendous feeling of relief when I received my acceptance letter. I hand-delivered my response to the admissions office the next day.

Orientation wasn’t nearly as detailed as it is today.

To the first students, it felt a little improvised.

Rives: I remember orientation being held outside the main entrance. Even though the building wasn’t ready, I was.

Thompson: We met on the grand brick walkways that led us to a chained and locked door. That’s when we realized that the building wasn’t finished. There we were, all dressed up, 40 of us, with literally no place to go. We met with local media, took some pictures and then we were bussed to the state fairgrounds for an orientation that I don’t remember.

Rynders: Orientation was in the Jim Graham Building at the fairgrounds. I remember wondering that evening what I had gotten myself into and whether I was going to be able to handle an 8-point grade scale versus the 10-point scale the rest of campus used.

David Rives' acceptance letter. Courtesy David Rives.

Despite the fact that construction was still ongoing, the first day of classes was held primarily outdoors and in completed areas inside.

"There were no desks, no air-conditioning, no showers and no lockers,” according to an article in an SVM-produced newspaper promoting the first Open House in 1983. “Sporting university-issued fly swatters, they tracked through the red clay mud juggling books, chairs and microscopes from class to class.”

The library was open but it had no chairs or tables as the first class began.

Rives: We were all excited to get started, even though our first class was to be held in a “finger barn” intended to house research animals. I guess we were guinea pigs of sorts.

Aerial view of the then-School of Veterinary Medicine, 1981.

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Rynders: It rained that day, and I was so nervous and excited that I left my headlights on when I parked my car. I was mortified that the first impression my classmates would have of me was that of the dummy who left her lights on. It turned out that I should not have worried because I wasn’t the only one. What at first seemed like an embarrassment turned out to be a great ice breaker.

Thompson: We would spend the majority of our first year at the finger barn. Every day we parked our cars in the lot and then walked around the construction site carrying our books and microscopes and coveralls and boots to our tiny finger barn.

Jones: The instructor, Dr. Ben Harrington, arrived but the door was locked and no one had a key.

Rives: He wound up teaching the class outside.

The CVM’s construction would not be completed until December 1982, and by that time another class of 40 students had joined campus. Even anatomy would be taught in the finger barn, until it moved completely into the main building in April 1982.

In the meantime, the CVM became, at the time, one of the few veterinary schools in the country to become fully accredited before the graduation of its first class.

Rynders: I remember the sense that although the program and facility weren’t really ready for the first class, we adjusted to the situation, made the necessary sacrifices and became successful nonetheless. We truly were pioneers.

Thompson: We walked through dust or mud depending on the weather and then endeavored to learn with a background symphony of construction equipment and workers. We had one unisex bathroom for all of us so we shared the portable toilets with construction workers.

Jones: A lot of effort was made by the administration and faculty to be sure we received a great education. Because the faculty was not complete we were taught by some of the deans and other renowned instructors that were brought in for certain topics. In the end, we were blessed to have been well-educated.

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Thompson: What I remember most is the bond we had with each other, the faculty and the staff. There were so few of us at first that we developed a closeness that most vet students could never expect. We even had a pop-up wine and cheese party every Friday for both faculty and students that somehow persisted throughout the four years.

At 7 p.m. May 10, 1985, 37 members of the CVM class of 1985 graduated during the college’s first Oath and Hooding ceremony.

Thompson gave the student address, and Rives received the first diploma because he was the first student to be accepted.

After the ceremony, the group returned to the finger barn, where it all began, to celebrate.

Rynders: The CVM shaped everything about my professional life and life today. I am the attending veterinarian at a university with a veterinary school. The standards I apply in my role here are based on the values, work ethic and dedication to task that I experienced as a veterinary student at NC State.

Rives: The things I remember the most about my time in vet school are the incredible people I met there and the amazing things we were able to do — something new every day. One of my favorite things to do in my current position with Zoetis Animal Health is to come back to the CVM and help with poultry classes and work with the residents.

Thompson: We had great mentors. They did a great job of recruiting talented faculty to this new school. The process of going to veterinary school as it was built around us helped us to become resilient and uniquely prepared us for our future in the industry.

~Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine

After Graduation: Where Are They Now? Randy Jones: Jones accepted a position at Riverbank Animal Hospital in Kinston, where he practiced for 10 years. He began his own swine consulting practice in 1995, Livestock Veterinary Services PLLC, and opened a small animal clinic in 2013 with his partner, Cary Sexton. He still works in both practices and lives on a farm in Greene County.

Patricia Rynders: Rynders was in animal practice for eight years before earning a master’s degree. She joined the laboratory animal program at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, where she is now the attending veterinarian and director of the Division of Laboratory Animal Health. She lives in Auburn, Alabama, with her husband, Michael Tillson, who graduated from the NC State CVM in 1988. Tillson is a small animal soft tissue surgeon at Auburn.

David Rives: Rives completed an avian medicine internship at NC State, became a technical services veterinarian with Intervet, then returned to NC State as an extension veterinarian in the Department of Poultry Science. In 1995, he started work as a veterinarian for the turkey division of Prestage Farms. Since 2015, he has been a senior technical services veterinarian for Zoetis. He lives in Mount Airy.

Mark Thompson: Thompson worked for a year in mixed practice in Tennessee doing cattle, horse, and companion animal work. After working in mixed practice in North Carolina for nine years, he focused on companion animal medicine. He joined the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine for three years to run its small animal community practice program. He then took a position as a small animal practitioner at Brevard Animal Hospital, bought the practice five years later and still practices there. He’s the author of the reference book Small Animal Medical Differential Diagnosis. His future wife, Sandi, was one of the first two technicians hired by the NC State CVM.

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Meurs Named Interim Dean Photo by Nathan Latil/NC State Veterinary Medicine

Kathryn Meurs, senior associate dean for research and graduate studies, has been named the interim dean of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. Meurs begins her term as interim dean on Jan. 18, 2022.

A national search for the CVM’s next dean is underway, says NC State University Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden. Current CVM Dean Paul Lunn will step down from his post in January.

“I have been extremely fortunate to work with Dean Lunn for the past 10 years and have learned a great deal working with him and my phenomenal colleagues in the college,” says Meurs. “Dean Lunn is leaving the college in incredibly strong 31 shape, and I look forward to the opportunity to help maintain the college’s positive momentum as the interim dean.”

Finalist candidate interviews and open forums are scheduled to begin in early spring 2022.

“For more than a decade, Dr. Meurs has played a large role in keeping NC State at the forefront of translational medical research, working closely with Dean Lunn every step of the way,” says Arden. “She has long championed collaborative, groundbreaking work among faculty, clinicians, students and the greater biomedical community that is a hallmark of the College of Veterinary Medicine. She is a true leader in every sense of the word.”

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Meurs, the Randall B. Terry, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Comparative Medicine, has helped shape the CVM into the research powerhouse it is today since joining the college as a professor and associate dean in 2011.

Through her leadership, the CVM has made numerous impactful and lasting research partnerships with the agriculture and biotechnology industries, animal health foundations and federal organizations.

Meurs has made interdisciplinary and translational research a priority at the CVM. She played a very active role in launching the Biomedical Partnership Center in 2017 on the college’s campus, facilitating projects between the CVM and industry, government, and other biomedical researchers, as well as clinical trial companies and entrepreneurs.

Her own ongoing groundbreaking research has identified the genetic basis for numerous feline and canine cardiac diseases, including mitral valve degeneration. Meurs is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and was named the first recipient of the Mark L. Morris Jr. Investigator Award by the Morris Animal Foundation in 2016.

Meurs’ connection to NC State goes back 30 years. After receiving her bachelor’s degree and a DVM, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she completed a small animal rotating internship at the CVM in 1990, followed by a cardiology residency at Texas A&M University, where she also earned a Ph.D. in genetics. ~Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine

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Grateful Couple Honors Six with Coats of Excellence Emma Warner's care team poses with their Coats of Excellence and personalized jackets on the CVM campus. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

Emma Rae was a little dog with big, soulful eyes.

Her big eyes only hint at her larger-than-life spirit, says her owners, Kelly and Charlie Warner of Roanoke, Virginia.

“Even for a wiener dog, Emma had an unusually outgoing and brilliant personality. She was a little dog, but a very big deal to us, and she enriched our lives on a daily basis,” the Warners say.

In 2015 Emma was diagnosed with a small adenocarcinoma, a nasal tumor. She was referred to NC State for radiation therapy, where she underwent 19 treatments.

After a period of full remission the tumor returned, and Emma returned to NC State in September 2016, this time for three stereotactic — highly targeted — radiation treatments. This time the tumor was stabilized and well-controlled until August 2018, when it began to progress again. She passed away a few months later.

Mike Nolan, associate professor of radiation oncology and biology, remembers Emma well. “She lived a long life, and she lived well,” he says. “She had a caring family, and we all developed a very special relationship with both Emma Rae and the Warners.”

The Warners honored Emma’s medical team with an extraordinary gesture — six Coats of Excellence.

The Coat of Excellence program provides a way for clients to express special appreciation for the efforts of a faculty clinician, resident, intern, veterinary technician or support staff member who has touched their lives and that of their animal companion.

With a special, tax-deductible donation of $10,000, clients help the NC State Hospital provide advanced medical care while at the same time honoring a person or group with white coats embroidered with that person’s name and the name of the pet cared for.

Three of the honorees are veterinarians: Nolan; Tracy Geiger, associate clinical professor of radiation oncology, and Hiroto Yoshikawa, assistant professor of radiation oncology. Three are registered veterinary technicians: Tammy Hawkes, radiation therapist; Kristen Price, medical support technician; and Beth Piojda, anesthesia technician. The three vet techs received surgical scrubs with their names embroidered on them.

“There are no words to sufficiently express our gratitude to the radiation oncology team for the extra 3 ½-plus years we got to spend with our beloved Emma Rae,” the Warners say.

~Steve Volstad/NC State Veterinary Medicine

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In Memoriam:

Randy Ward, 1945-2021 Amid the clamor of the day in May 2011 when the NC State Veterinary Hospital’s Terry Center expansion officially opened, Randy Ward found time for a quiet moment.

Alone, he walked over to the statue of his beloved Newfoundland, Hannah, now standing watch outside the cardiology service. He gently put his hand on the side of her face.

From that moment, Hannah, who lived for another five years rather than the expected five months after the hospital treated her for a faulty heart valve disease, has stood watch over the cardiology service entrance that now bears her name thanks to the generosity of Randy and Susan Ward: the Hannah Heart Pavilion.

When Randy Ward died June 7, just a few days shy of his 76th birthday, he left an indelible legacy of support and generosity that uplifted those who knew him and elevated the college he and Susan loved so much.

“I believe the realization of the Hannah Heart Pavilion provided a lasting tribute to Hannah — who was simply an amazing being — as well as a transformational gift to NC State,” says Bruce Keene, the Jane Lewis Seaks Distinguished Professor of Companion Animal Medicine who worked closely with the Wards on Hannah’s surgery and post-operative care.

The Wards passionately advocated for NC State, the CVM and its hospital, helping to fund the CVM’S mobile veterinary surgery unit, which cares for animals in rural areas, and provides natural disaster relief work.

“This university has lost one of its greatest advocates and friends. I am very grateful I had the chance to get to know him,” says CVM Dean Paul Lunn.

“Their love for and commitment to the college of veterinary medicine was always extraordinary. Certainly, their gifts have had a phenomenal impact on our program, but their greatest gift was their time.”

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Randy Ward embraces the bronze statue of his pet Hannah, a Newfoundland that greets visitors to the Terry Center, in 2011. Photo by Marc Hall.

The Wards also honored extraordinary clinicians with white coats of excellence, recently awarding them to Dianne Dunning, associate dean for advancement, and Steve Marks, associate dean and director of veterinary medical services.

“Randy was a spectacular human being. He loved his wife, his dogs and NC State. He was a true friend of the college and an amazingly intelligent man,” says Dunning.

In 1998 and 2011, respectively, Randy and Susan were honored with the Watauga Medal, NC State’s highest non-academic honor recognizing significant contributions to advancing the university.

“Randy Ward embodied the spirit of the Wolfpack,” says Warwick Arden, NC State vice chancellor and provost who served as CVM dean from 2004 to 2009. “For decades, Randy and Susan’s support has impacted the lives of so many NC State students and hospital clients — and will continue to do so for years to come.

Hannah's statue stands guard outside the NC State Veterinary Hospital's Hannah Heart Pavilion. Photo by Marc Hall.

Randall Lee Ward was born June 13, 1945, in Oakland, California. Randy grew up in Durham and attended Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia for his last two years of high school.

He returned to North Carolina in 1964 to attend NC State, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in textiles in 1968.

After graduation, he worked in Virginia, New York City and Boston, but North Carolina kept calling him home. Returning to the Triangle, he and his business partner, Steve Robertson, a fellow NC State alumnus, founded This End Up furniture company in 1974. When it was sold a decade later, the company had stores in almost every U.S. state.

The Wards were longtime clients of the veterinary hospital. A plaque at the hospital documents their experience with Hannah and her innovative care, which involved open-heart surgery to replace a heart valve because of a complex congenital heart defect. Hannah’s ashes are buried under her statue.

Keene first met Randy and Susan Ward in the late 1990s, when they first realized Hannah was ill. After surgery, Hannah required a great deal of follow-up care, and the Wards visited her every day in the hospital, Keene says.

“They were both dedicated, and never lost their sense of humor — not then and not in the 25 years I’ve known them since then,” he says. “Randy was a perceptive, highly

accomplished person who had an impish sense of fun, an unfailingly generous spirit and an incredible soft spot in his heart for animals.”

For the past four decades, Randy enjoyed a quiet life with Susan on his farm, which was often visited by fourth-year DVM students honing their clinical craft, says Oscar Fletcher, who served as CVM dean, from 1992 to 2004.

“Randy and Susan were a team and almost always together, always very friendly and easy to talk with,” says Fletcher, a professor of poultry health management. “I remember that they made me feel welcome here."

Ward is survived by his wife, Susan Parrott Ward; his sister, Jan Ashby Martin and husband Dan Martin; brother-in-law William A. Parrott and wife Delphia Turner Parrott; sister-in-law Mary Parrott Jones; sister-in-law Susan Herring; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He is also survived by Mae, his Newfoundland who rarely left his side.

In honor of Randy’s memory, the family urges those to consider a gift to the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine or the SPCA of Wake County.

~Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine 34

EXTRAORDINARY REASEARCH

Groundbreaking NC State Study Exploring Dog Breed Pain Sensitivity Rachael Cunningham (left) and Rachel Park (right) test golden retriever Eve's pain sensitivity. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

Deep down, pet owners know it. Veterinarians do, too.

There’s the bulldog who seems tougher than other breeds and the pug who’s a little more squeamish than others.

A new study at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is hoping to be the first to answer an intriguing and potentially impactful question: Are there actual breed differences when it comes to pain sensitivity?

“We’re trying to pinpoint whether it’s just a stereotype that we carry around or if there is something to it,” says Margaret Gruen, CVM assistant professor of behavioral medicine, who is overseeing the research project.

The two-year study, funded by the American Kennel Club, is unlike anything done before at NC State — or in veterinary research. Gruen and her research team have recruited dogs from 10 different breeds working with one dog a day to collect data.

Dogs are examined to make sure they are in normal health and free from joint or other pain, then undergo a sensitivity test, in which a small portion of hair is clipped from their front and back legs. Three tools are used, two that apply pressure and one that applies light heat. As soon as the dog pulls away, the encounter is stopped. Researchers record how long the dog 35

tolerates the heat stimulus. Each dog spends the rest of the afternoon in playtime, during which researchers assess a dog’s cognitive flexibility, as well as attention span and emotional reactivity to new objects and a stranger — even their judgment bias, whether they are optimists or pessimists. That information paints a well-rounded picture of what makes the dog tick.

“The data are going to be fascinating regardless of what the answer is,” says Duncan Lascelles, CVM professor of translational pain research and a co-Investigator on the project.

“You can imagine the next step could be starting to look at the genetic makeup of these different breeds and relate that to pain sensitivity."

Attacking Pain Gruen was first inspired to pursue the project after hearing a speaker discuss disparities in human medical treatment when she was a postdoctoral scholar at Duke University. That got her thinking about veterinary medicine and stereotypes that exist about different dog breeds.

With Brian Hare, professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke, Gruen surveyed pet owners and veterinarians, asking them to rate pictures of 28 breeds of dogs on a pain scale from “not at all sensitive” to “most sensitive imaginable.” Then she asked them why they felt that way.

The results indicated that both groups felt strongly that different breeds of dogs differed in pain sensitivity. A dog’s size was the factor for the general public. For veterinarians, the

“warmer” they felt about a breed, the less sensitive to pain they thought they were, says Gruen. For the general public it was the opposite: the more warmly they felt about a breed, the higher they rated their pain sensitivity.

“We established that this phenomenon exists, but the question becomes, is it real?” says Gruen. “How would we test that and then does it matter? Does it impact the way we interact with dogs of different breeds? Does it impact the way we treat them, especially for pain?”

Just 10 years ago, no one was asking these questions about animal pain. Even now, this study is believed to be the first to comprehensively break down pain sensitivity by dog breed.

“Pain research in veterinary medicine has come a long way in the last 20 years,” says Lascelles, a board-certified small animal surgeon. “It has never had a ‘home’ of its own, like ‘surgery’, or ‘cardiology,’ maybe because there’s not been an umbrella for it to live under."

“But now, it’s moved on to a position where people from several different disciplines are getting involved. I think this cross-discipline interest is fueled by the fact that there have been significant advances in our ability to measure pain and create treatments for it. Once you start to have some tools with which to perform your research, the speed picks up.”

And as the team prepares to analyze the results of the study for a year, Gruen is also excited for whatever comes next.

“I think that’s one of the things that’s so neat about this project,” she says. “Whichever way it goes, it’s going to be interesting and it will fuel new research." ~Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine

Follow the research project on social media: instagram.com/ cvmresearch 36

The Pandemic: An Unprecedented Time at the CVM The COVID-19 testing lab on the CVM campus served the entire NC State community. Photo by John Joyner/NC State Veterinary Medicine

It has been a year and a half of loss, but not a year and a half that is lost.

At the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, our lives, like yours, changed. We weren’t able to see as many clients as usual with safety measures in place to protect the health of our community and the community that relies on us day after day. Since March 2020, the NC State Veterinary Hospital has never closed.

In February 2021, we became a vital partner in NC State University’s efforts to protect the Pack. The CVM became home to COVID-19 testing labs for the NC State community. Led by Megan Jacob, associate professor of clinical microbiology and director of Diagnostic Laboratories at the CVM, the lab was capable of completing 8,000 tests a day and helped the NC State community get back on its feet.

Students and faculty adjusted to distanced learning. Everything felt just a bit different and unfamiliar — and it still does, even when the class of 2025 began in-person classes in August. But during the pandemic, we were able to provide comprehensive training in veterinary medicine — and graduate two CVM classes.

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We also continued our focus on making research discoveries that improve both human and animal health. Some CVM researchers, such as Ke Cheng, focused on COVID-19. Cheng, the Randall B. Terry Jr, Distinguished Professor in Regenerative Medicine, led a study that showed how nanodecoys made from human lung spheroid cells can bind to and neutralize SARSCoV-2, promoting viral clearance and reducing lung injury in an animal model of COVID-19.

As we head into the fall, what remains clear is this: the hospital will continue its compassionate and state-of-the-art care, teachers will teach and students will learn, and researchers will remain focused on new medical discoveries. Because that’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it always will be. ~Jordan Bartel/NC State Veterinary Medicine

In Memoriam: Longtime Faculty Member Jim Guy “Dr. Guy was an enormous yet quiet presence in the department. He was an amazing scientist, colleague and professional," says Paula Cray, head of the CVM’s Department of Population Health and Pathobiology. “Dr. Guy embodied professionalism, bringing the essence of who he was to every event, every time, every place.

“He was always true to who he was: forgiving, caring and concerned about his staff and the well-being of others.”

Guy’s research focused on viruses that impacted poultry production, including infectious laryngotracheitis, Marek’s disease and virus-induced immune suppression. He participated in the NC State Global Health Initiative as a member of the Latin America/Caribbean interest group.

He traveled frequently to South America and Mexico to educate poultry veterinarians and producers on control and management of infectious laryngotracheitis.

James Guy, a professor of poultry health management who served on the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine faculty since 1984, died Sept. 6 after a yearlong illness.

He was 71.

Guy worked in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, where his research focused on diseases of the respiratory and digestive systems in poultry.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Wilma; their daughter, Amy Guy Fitzhugh; grandson, Jennings; and six brothers and sisters.

Guy was a highly respected scholar-scientist. He held both a DVM and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the college of veterinary medicine in 2002. He was a diplomate of both the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists and the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.

His family was very important to him, remaining close to his six siblings and nieces and nephews, and extended family over the years. He was a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend. He was also an avid student of American history and a devout church member.

A private memorial service for Guy was held at the CVM campus for students and former students, staff, faculty and former faculty. There was a private family interment at the Benton Memorial Gardens in Benton, Tennessee.

In addition, the class of 2023 is honoring Guy’s memory by conducting an internal fundraising project within the CVM. Proceeds will go toward memorializing him with a personalized brick for the walkway traversing the CVM campus.

“Jim was completely vested in all things teaching and students, and he never missed an opportunity to express how much his grandson and family meant to him,” says Cray. “He was a true gentleman and an extraordinary human being. I, and the rest of the department and CVM, will miss him.”

In lieu of flowers, Guy’s family requests that memorial contributions may be made to the Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University at tischbraintumorcenter.duke.edu/ donate.

~Steve Volstad/NC State Veterinary Medicine

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NC State Veterinary Medicine NC Veterinary Medical Foundation 1060 William Moore Drive • Raleigh, NC 27607 Give Now: Use the giving envelope enclosed, (checks payable to “NCVMF”), or give online at cvm.ncsu.edu/giving.

Contact Us: Giving Office: 919-513-6660 cvmfoundation@ncsu.edu The Oath is published by the NC State Veterinary Medicine Communications and Marketing office.

Contact us at CVMCommunications@ncsu.edu This magazine was printed for a total cost of $4,500, or $1.33 per copy. No state funds were used.

The Terrence Curtin Society The Terrence Curtin Society, named for Dr. Terrence Curtin, recognizes the CVM’s most dedicated, early supporter and honors the generosity of individuals who have made an annual fund gift of $1,000 or more. Dr. Curtin was the visionary first dean of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine.

To learn more about Terrence Curtin Society Membership, please contact: Eric Melch Assistant Director of Development North Carolina Veterinary Medical Foundation P: 919-515-1981 E: esmelch@ncsu.edu https://cvm.ncsu.edu/alumni-and-donors/ terrence-curtin-society/

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