Tuskegee receives $40,000 grant from American Humane’s Scholar Fund

Drs. Ruby L. Perry and Roslyn Casimir holding the Tuskegee College of Veterinary Medicine $40,000 American Humane grant check. (Photo courtesy of Tuskegee University)

African-Americans make up less than 3% of veterinarians in the United States, a grim statistic that Zoetis Petcare and American Humane are making huge strides to change.

To help build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive profession, American Humane created the American Humane Scholar Fund and recently partnered with Zoetis to give an inaugural $40,000 grant to Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine. The award was announced during the American Humane Hero Dog Awards on the Hallmark Channel.

“American Humane’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is rooted in nearly 150 years of progressive work that has built the humane movement in this country and around the world,” says Von Scott, chair of American Humane’s Committee for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, in a press release. “With the help of a new generation of humane heroes such as these promising new champions for animals from Tuskegee, we can change not only lives…we can change the world.”

For its part, Zoetis has awarded more than $7 million in veterinary scholarships over the past 12 years. “Zoetis has had a long-time commitment to supporting veterinary medical students and university diversity initiatives,” says Christine Jenkins, DVM, DACVIM, vice president and US chief medical officer at Zoetis. “We are pleased to partner with American Humane to provide additional scholarship opportunities for Tuskegee veterinary medical students.”

Tuskegee is the only historically black college or university with a veterinary medical program, and has educated more than 70% of the country’s African-American veterinarians. The university has also been recognized as the most diverse accredited school/college of veterinary medicine in the United States.

“We at Tuskegee focus on our students being career-ready veterinarians when they complete the curriculum to pursue the many employment opportunities in the veterinary profession,” says Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Ruby L. Perry, DVM, PhD, MS, DACVR. “We are very grateful to American Humane and Zoetis for partnering to support our students…Their vision and generosity in this endeavor will support our deserving students seeking careers in veterinary medicine.”