Annual Scholarship Dinner a Chance for Grateful DVM Students to Thank Generous Donors

Thanks to the generosity of donors, the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine was able to award more than $1.7 million in scholarships over the past year to 186 veterinary students, greatly reducing their debt burdens and stress levels.

On Tuesday, the college gathered the scholarship givers and the recipients to celebrate the generosity that has allowed the doctors-to-be to focus on their studies and dreams rather than their finances. Representing the myriad ways scholarships have transformed trajectories, fourth-year students Mariam Yassin and Gabrielle Elders shared their stories and gratitude after a lively dinner at the Talley Student Union on the NC State University campus.

“Thank you for believing in us and for giving us the ability to step into this profession with a little less weight on our shoulders,” said Elders, a Dayton, Ohio, native who plans to enter a small animal general practice near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in May. “You’ve truly changed our lives, and I promise to spend my career making sure that impact reaches even further.”

Nationally, the average veterinary student graduates with more than $200,000 in loans, said Dr. Kate Meurs, the Randall B. Terry Jr. dean of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. At NC State, the average loan balance is $100,000, thanks to competitive tuition rates and scholarship opportunities. Around 20% of the college’s last three classes have completed their DVM degrees with no debt thanks to scholarships, she said.

“Graduating with minimal debt allows our graduates to broaden their career opportunities and serve animals in need in so many settings, including shelter medicine, rural practice and global health,” Meurs said.

At the event, more than 20 students including Elders were able to thank donor Ross Annable for scholarships they received because of a $5 million gift from him and his wife, Michele, that was matched by the Randall B. Terry Jr. Charitable Foundation in 2016. The Michele M. and Ross M. Annable Scholarship Endowment is a need-based scholarship program that covers up to half the cost of DVM tuition and fees. 

Yassin, a native of Nigeria, received several scholarships over her four years at the veterinary college, the first from the Randall B. Terry Foundation and the last from Drs. Chris and Tonya Neville, she said.

“With each one, I imagined someone looked at my application and essays, my life written in black and white, and said, ‘She worked so hard to get here. She continues to work hard and clearly she is passionate about being here. And maybe her struggles are a little harder than the struggles of the average student. I want to help shoulder this burden,’” she added.

Yassin has lived in North Carolina for over 15 years and nearly lost her way when her father died about 10 years ago. She had wanted to be a veterinarian since the age of 5, but her dreams and her zest for life died with her dad, she said.

“Time marched on, and slowly but surely I started to come back to myself, to think about my purpose in life and the person I wanted to be,” she said. “I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

Only because the federal government sent families stimulus checks during the COVID pandemic was she able to afford to apply to veterinary school, she said. Scholarships and the generosity of others have seen her through the program.

Yassin also thanked those who contribute to the emergency funds that students can access in a pinch. When Yassin mentioned that simply having someone pay for her parking pass had lifted her up during a particularly difficult semester, a donor at a table in the middle of the ballroom shut her eyes and bowed her head.

Donors Dr. Michael and Betsy Sink understand the potential that philanthropy holds to uplift and encourage veterinary students. Sink, a veterinarian who received his DVM from the University of Georgia before NC State created its College of Veterinary Medicine, is a Raleigh native whose father also was a veterinarian.

“It’s our privilege to help somebody else and see if they can carry on in the profession,” said Michael Sink, who was particularly moved by Yassin’s story. “I feel for the kids who graduate in any professional school with such a debt. It’s so hard. There are so many rewards for us as donors. Hearing how they just really have a heart for animals, we feel good about the future.”