Vet Cetera magazine 2015

From the Office of the Dean
I have great news:
The Center for Veterinary Health Sciences Academic Center
faculty office building is finally complete.
A wonderful dedication ceremony was held Sept. 12. OSU President Burns Hargis, with the assistance of
PHIL SHOCKLEY / UNIVERSITY MARKETING
Dr. Joao Brandao, our wildlife and exotic animal specialist, released a barn owl that had been found as an
owlet and reared under OSU’s outstanding care. Guests toured the new building and made behind-thescenes
visits to the hospital and the Gaylord Center for Excellence in Equine Health, another recently
opened area supporting our equine specialty service. An award-winning documentary — Nature vs. Nature:
The Animal Victims of the May 2013 Oklahoma Tornadoes — was shown, which featured the involvement of
the college and many of our alumni throughout central Oklahoma during this difficult time.
Many naming opportunities
are available in the new building,
and I’d like to share my views on
such giving opportunities. Our
role is to train the whole person.
Of course there is the classical
education, requiring classroom
time where faculty and students
discuss areas of veterinary medicine
that will be essential to their
future success. The current Academic
Center building is phase
1; phase 2 is focused on our student
success and may include an
auditorium, educational spaces
or discussion areas. The CVHS
is bursting at the seams and
needs additional educational
spaces. The gifts that are received
through naming opportunities in
the academic center will support
Phase 2, which directly benefits
our wonderful students.
But this goes much further.
Naming opportunities are a
visual reminder of the support
our friends have provided to help
us along our way. Each time I
see a plaque indicating a gift was
made by someone who cared, I
am grateful for all we have. I
don’t know that we stop often
enough to recognize what others
do for us, and that daily dose of
gratitude makes us all better people.
That gratitude can go beyond
simply putting your name on an
office or meeting space to being
a way of recognizing someone
who made an impact on our lives
and may have made all the difference
in our success. Spaces can
be named in honor or memory
of someone for whom we owe
a great deal. I did that for my
mother before she passed, and
every dollar that I contributed
was worth the look on her face
when she was presented with this
honor in her name.
Naming spaces keeps away
the “out of sight/out of mind”
problem. These gifts can help
shape the understanding of both
faculty and students that we are
here due to the grace of people
who love animals and education.
Without our friends, our lives
would be less rich and our experiences
less fulfilling. I welcome
all of you to think about how
you might keep the idea of giving
back in front of our students
so we might guide them in the
art of gratitude and the pleasure
of giving back.
Feel free to reach out to me
directly or contact Jayme Ferrell,
the new CVHS development officer.
You can find information on
her in this issue of Vet Cetera.
JEAN E. SANDER, DVM, MAM, DACPV
DEAN, CENTER FOR
VETERINARY
HEALTH
SCIENCES
2015 Oklahoma State University 1