A group of donations to the Veterinary Technology Program given Tuesday by students might have diminished some doubts about the strength of the program.
In an effort to trim the university budget, a moratorium on the program was put into effect in the spring 2010 semester. The future of veterinary technology at MSU was in question until the moratorium was lifted in August 2010 — officials found a way to restructure it and keep it viable for students, university officials said.
Tuesday might have been a sign that the program still is very much alive, as three separate student groups gave a combined $4,500 in donations to the Lucky Fund at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
The Lucky Fund raises money to help people unable to afford treatment for their pets pay for the proper care, said Pat LeBlanc, director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and representative of the Lucky Fund.
“The students in the veterinary technician department love animals,” he said. “Not only are they well trained, but they’re compassionate individuals, and this donation validates their compassion for animal care.”
The MSU student groups that contributed the separate donations included the Student Veterinary Technician Association, the Veterinary Student Honor’s Society and the Pre-Veterinary Medical Association.
Veterinary technology senior Kristen Cole serves as the president of the Student Veterinary Technician Association. The group’s donation of about $2,000 was its total income for the year, Cole said.
She credited the donation to the hard work of her group members.
Veterinary technology senior Leslie Trumble was in charge of merchandising for the association during the past year.
Revenue generators such as T-shirt sales, face painting and restaurant fundraisers all added up to make the donation possible, she said.
“Instead of having it directly related to the tech program, we related it to the whole veterinary program overall,” Trumble said. “So we sold over $1,500 in merchandise in just T-shirts.”
Trumble said positive news is welcomed after all of the controversy surrounding the program a year ago.
“We were pretty upset when we found out that they were going to put the hold on the program,” she said. “Being the only bachelor’s program in the state, we were pretty heartbroken. We were really excited when we found out the program was going to continue.”
LeBlanc echoed Trumble’s thoughts about the continued success of the veterinary technology program at MSU.
“I would say we have a large number of alumni of both the vet school and the vet tech school, and,” LeBlanc said. “(People in the field) understand the value of hiring a vet tech employee from Michigan State.”
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