About Our Organization

Mission Statement
Broad Spectrum Veterinary Student Association’s mission is to connect, support and empower community for LGBT+* students and allies across veterinary education.
*LGBT + will be used as an inclusive acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer,Questioning, Asexual and others who self-identify on the sexual orientation and/or gender expression continuums.

Vision Statement
Broad Spectrum desires greater support and a sense of community for all LGBT+ students and allies throughout veterinary medical education. We actively strive to counter episodes of bigotry and marginalization with positive messages of diversity and inclusion. We have healthy, supportive and encouraging relationships with pre-veterinary, veterinary and graduate students, faculty, staff and administrators. We are known for advocating for the respect and equality of seen and unseen LGBT+ members in the academic veterinary community and beyond. We contribute to the development of safe and welcoming veterinary school environments for pre- and current veterinary students. Broad Spectrum makes veterinary schools more inclusive for all students, especially LGBT+ students. We accomplish this by starting important and courageous conversations about LGBT+ inclusion, in addition to maintaining much needed support for LGBT+ students in veterinary medicine.

Our History

We were founded in 2011 at the SAVMA Symposium hosted by UC Davis. The name 'Broad Spectrum' came out of a calculated attempt to be as inclusive as possible to any student who falls anywhere on the spectra of sexuality, sex, or gender. We welcome all students no matter their sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. And yes, allies, this means we welcome you, too!

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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Club Update: Ross Spectrum Club


We've got a great update from the Ross Spectrum club just for you!

Did you know that Ross is one of the largest AVMA accredited veterinary institutions, but has one of the smallest campuses? We had no idea!

The students as RUCVM provided us with some excellent history of St. Kitts to give students from the states an idea of what its like living in the Caribbean (the bad and the good).

"St. Kitts is traditionally a devoutly religious island founded by Christopher Columbus and first claimed by Spain in 1493 and lastly by Britain in 1783. It is extremely historic and the island demands a lot of respect for being such a historical landmark in ancient history. It has evolved from a combination of West African traditions of slave populations with additions of French and British colonist. Following its independence from England in 1983 several historic Anglican churches remain with over 50% of the population still practicing this religion. St. Kitts has a very vibrant culture with legislation still in place that criminalizes homosexuality amongst males."

RUSVM spectrum Club helps give LGBT students and allies a safer sense of community on campus.
there is no LGBT support outside of the university!


"The LGBT students of RUSVM do their research before arriving to the island and participate in a thorough orientation that lasts for more than a week. Here we all learn what our life will be like for the next two and half years. Will we hate it? Will we “suck it up” and just hide who we are? Do we never venture out into the community? Are we going to feel safe? Who can I go to for help? These and many other questions run rapidly through our head, but we soon realize that we are visitors in this country and there isn’t much we can do to change the culture of an entire country. Instead we learned that the citizens of St. Kitts are more accepting than we realized and demonstrate respect for who we are as long as we give them the respect they deserve."

RUSVM students have ties to the community and organize local events.

RUSVM Spectrum now active! Members keep up on LGBT topics in the news and use Facebook to keep in touch outside of class. They host socials to build LGBT and ally student community, LGBT friends in the local community, and studnets at other universities on the island.

holding bake sales to fund events: fly in speakers, promote veterinary experiences.

Hope to someday give back to the community as the club grows or use funds to send members to veterinary conferences and other opportunites.

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