LGVMA at AVMA

The 2014 AVMA Convention is taking place in Colorado this year.

Here's a quick summary of the LGVMA events taking place!

Keep on the look out for more details!

Friday, July 25th, 3-5pm

LGVMA Board Meeting

Friday, July 25th, 5-6pm

LGVMA Annual Meeting

-open to all members and allies

-meeting followed by dinner (RSVP to tstevens@morrisanimalfoundation.org)

Saturday, July 26th, TBD

LGVMA Night on the Town

-starting at Hamburger Mary's

-RSVP to tstevens@morrisanimalfoundation.org for details

Sunday, July 27th, TBD

Keynote Address, "Marketing Veterinary Services to the LGBTQ Community"

-appetizers and cocktail hour, sponsored by Zoetis

Also, if you're interested in staffing the LGVMA booth in the exhibition hall email Kim McKee (kimcheszak@yahoo.com)! They're covered for Saturday but need help on Sunday and Monday!

If you'll be in Colorado for the AVMA Convention then you should definitely attend!

Recap: SAVMA Symposium 2014

Hey Everyone!

If you attended SAVMA Symposium, I hope you enjoyed yourself!
If you didn't attend SAVMA Symposium, then I'm here to make you feel like you were there!

Colorado is far away for a lot of people so I can excuse your absence, but seriously you missed a good time out West!

Look how happy we are to be in Loveland, CO

(L to R) Arturo, Joseph, Amanda

Presentation at the BSVSA Annual Meeting

Back at the booth meeting students from all over the USA

The wonderful Diversity Forum chairs from CSU with the keynote speaker

(L to R) Shana, 

All of these were given away before the weekend was over

Enjoying the BSVSA Networking Social at the Embassy Suites

Broad Spectrum officers with the keynote speaker

Thanks CSU for hosting a great SAVMA Symposium!

We hope to see you next year at Minnesota!

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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LGVMA Facebook Page

Hey Followers!

If you're familiar with Broad Spectrum Veterinary Student Association then you're familiar with the LGVMA. The LGVMA has added a Facebook page in addition to their Facebook group.

So please go like their new Facebook page!

We've got the link below!

http://www.facebook.com/lgvma

LGVMA Student Leadership Award Winners

The LGVMA has announced the winners of their annual Student Leadership Awards for 2013!

The LGVMA has provided these awards to students interested in participating in leadership conferences that will facilitate their participation in organized veterinary medicine and to students developing programs in line with the LGVMA's mission and vision.  The mission and vision are detailed in the original call for applications posted on this blog.

LGVMA Vision: “The LGVMA is the professional organization that fosters acceptance, inclusivity and leadership for veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and veterinary students, of all sexual orientations and gender identities, and their allies, through community development, professional advocacy, and personal empowerment.” 

Congratulations to  Randi E. Frankle, at the University of California, and Celena Quist, at Oklahoma State University.

Both winners plan to use their awards to create a more inclusive environment at their veterinary school. According to the LGVMA press release "both demonstrated a history of leadership on campus and had strong plans to support the betterment of animal care and human acceptance." Randi E. Frankle plans to reestablish the student chapter of the LGVMA at UC Davis and jump start the organization with lectures and networking events to help build community. We wish Randi the best developing an inclusive environment at UC Davis for LGBT members of the veterinary community at UC Davis. Celena Quist plans to establish an educational program to "create a positive, enlightening experience for non-LGBTQ college community members". This programing will include invited speakers, activities and discussions that educate individuals on the use of inclusive language and explain the importance of allies. Celena hopes these activities will help create a safe space and promote mutual understanding at Oklahoma State.

We're very happy to spread this news to other students. Congratulate these students if you know them! Don't forget that support from Hill's Pet Nutrition and Zoetis make these awards possible!