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Oath and Hooding: Cheers, Tears and Reminders That ‘You are Ready for This’

Burgetta Wheeler

A girl in a coat and red hat sits in a backseat of a car with her younger sister wearing red books and a hat with white trim.

May 13, 2026

A Sister Denied Leads to a Legacy Created and Dreams Supported

Long-time music educator Kathy Backherms could not have composed a better coda to her cherished sister’s life than the magical moment she met NC State veterinary student Isla Farrow. First, the prelude.  Mary Frances Backherms was 8 years older than Kathy and had spent her childhood bandaging stuffed animals, caring for birds, hamsters, guinea pigs,…
A boy in a red and black jacket looks through a magnifying glass into a yellow cup as a girl in a purple and orange striped jacket claps her hands.

Mar 31, 2026

Open House Draws Thousands to CVM Campus for Discoveries and Delights

“Amazing” was the word Barry and Anna Thompson kept returning to to describe their family’s day before they scooted into the Teddy Bear Clinic for a veterinary student to stitch up a giraffe and a hippo for their two curly-headed girls. At the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine’s Open House 2026, Cora and little…
A black dog lies on a hospital bed with a brow stuffed animal with him.

Mar 16, 2026

After a Grape Ingestion, Going the Extra Miles for Daddy’s Dog

A topsy-turvy litter of little black duck-hunters-to-be. Two daughters with bright smiles and waiting arms. A devoted husband and doting dad, now gone from cancer, waiting patiently to learn which pup his girls would pick to become his canine companion on the Mississippi waterways. This is the poignant memory that buttressed Giselle Thibaudeau Munn as…
Dr. Lydia Love in a collared dress shirt talks with a registered veterinary technician.

Nov 14, 2025

Lydia Love, First DVM Certified in Patient Safety, Takes on New NC State Hospital Role

Dr. Lydia Love, a clinical associate professor of anesthesiology at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, has been appointed to the new position of director of patient safety at the NC State Veterinary Hospital after recently becoming the first veterinarian in the country to become a Certified Professional in Patient Safety.  The CPPS credential…
Dr. Chris Mariani in blue scrubs and purple gloves kneels behind a white dog and examines him.

Nov 5, 2025

NC State Neurologist Adapts Human Laser Therapy for Use in Dogs with Brain Cancer

A complicated, years-long project led by an NC State professor of veterinary neurology and neurosurgery and a former Duke University professor of neurosurgery has opened a pathway for more advanced brain cancer research and treatment for both humans and dogs.  For the first time, Dr. Christopher Mariani and his team successfully employed laser interstitial thermal…
Dr. Margaret Gruen squats as she works with a black dog in the behavior lab at NC State College of Veterinary Medicine

Oct 14, 2025

NC State Behavioral Specialist Leads $5.5 Million NIH Grant for Research Contributing to Opioid Fight

As part of its ongoing effort to combat opioid addiction in the United States, the National Institutes of Health is advancing research into the mechanisms and impacts of pain, recently awarding a $5.5 million grant to an interdisciplinary research team co-led by Dr. Margaret Gruen of NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine to examine how…
Veterinary student Azariah Spurlock wearing a black zipup stands beside a white truck outfitted for veterinary field work

Sep 11, 2025

NC State Student Creates Coloring Book to Help Children Picture Possibilities in Veterinary Medicine

To be a thriving third-year veterinary student at NC State today, Azariah Spurlock first had to have a high school friend tell her that North Carolina A&T State University existed. The Charleston, West Virginia, native had never heard of it. Then she had to have met people at the Greensboro, North Carolina, university who were…
The NC State College of Veterinary Medicine Class of 2029 stands outside the college.

Aug 11, 2025

Swansboro, Self-Awareness and Scrubs: Veterinary Class of 2029 Starts Its Engines

With 125 new and animated veterinary students set loose in the library on the first day of orientation, mishearing the answers to get-to-know-you questions about names, expected animal focus and hometowns could be expected. “Swinesboro?” asked Montana Pell, a student from New Jersey, in a query not out of the question at the NC State…
Lauren Buslinger walks veterinary technician students from Cape Fear Community College through some of the finer points of working with beef cattle at the TAU.

Jun 17, 2025

NC State Offers ‘Livestock Boot Camp’ to Aspiring Registered Veterinary Technicians

In their navy coveralls and rubber boots, Cape Fear Community College students watched intently as Dr. Allison West, lead veterinarian at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine’s Teaching Animal Unit, walked around an unconcerned cow in NC State’s state-of-the-art dairy barn and demonstrated how to assess the animal’s health. The students, who are finishing…
Class of 2025 NC State College of Veterinary Medicine

May 5, 2025

Oath and Hooding: Cheers, Tears and Reminders That ‘You are Ready for This’

With faculty members beaming and family members roaring, nearly 100 NC State College of Veterinary Medicine students took the Veterinarian’s Oath and became doctors at an Oath and Hooding ceremony Friday, joining about 3,000 NC State veterinary alumni since the college graduated its first class 40 years ago. The Class of 2025 chose NC State…