(jubilant music)
- [Announcer] Welcome to
the St. George's University
School of Veterinary Medicine
2020 commencement ceremony.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
distinguished guests
and honored graduates,
it is indeed a privilege for
me to welcome each of you
to the 2020 virtual academic convocation
of St. George's University
School of Veterinary Medicine.
I am Neil Olson, dean of
St. George's University
School of Veterinary Medicine.
Wherever you are today,
please rise for the national anthems
of the United States
of America and Grenada.
("The Star-Spangled Banner")
♪ Oh, say can you see ♪
♪ By the dawn's early light ♪
♪ What so proudly we hailed ♪
♪ At the twilight's last gleaming ♪
♪ Whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪
♪ Thru the perilous fight ♪
♪ O'er the ramparts we watched ♪
♪ Were so gallantly streaming ♪
♪ And the rocket's red glare ♪
♪ The bombs bursting in air ♪
♪ Gave proof through the night ♪
♪ That our flag was still there ♪
♪ Oh, say does that
star-spangled banner yet wave ♪
♪ O'er the land of the free ♪
♪ And the home of the brave ♪
(audience applauds)
("Hail Grenada")
♪ Hail! Grenada, land of ours ♪
♪ We pledge ourselves to thee ♪
♪ Heads, hearts and hands in unity ♪
♪ To reach our destiny ♪
♪ Ever conscious of God ♪
♪ Being proud of our heritage ♪
♪ May we with faith and courage ♪
♪ Aspire, build, advance ♪
♪ As one people, one family ♪
♪ God bless our nation ♪
(audience applauds)
- This is a very special day,
particularly for the
180 young women and men
who have completed four years
of rigorous veterinary medical education
in addition to several years
of undergraduate studies,
and who, in a few minutes,
will embark upon their
professional careers
as the world's newest veterinarians.
With the addition of these new graduates,
the School of Veterinary
Medicine will have produced
nearly 1,800 doctors
of veterinary medicine
since our first graduating class in 2003.
I'd like to extend our thanks
to the families, friends,
faculty, and staff
for your support and your commitment
to ensuring the success of our students
in the pursuit of their lifelong dreams.
You are here because our graduates
recognize you as essential
components in their success,
and your mission does not end here.
You must continue to
foster their development
and encourage adherence
to their professionalism
in this lifelong process of learning.
For us, this ceremony is
a symbol of confidence
that you are now equipped with the world
into which you are entering.
We have equipped you with
the basic and clinical skills
necessary for your profession.
And you must continue
learning to keep pace
with the changing world around us.
Your academic qualifications
will help to open opportunities,
but beyond that, you must demonstrate
your ability to learn and
grow in the fields you choose.
You will be stretched in
many different directions
throughout your career
and you must rely on your
core values to guide you.
These values must be rooted
in immutable principles
that will sustain and hold
you up through the storms.
And there will be storms.
Today is about recognizing your ability
to embrace the opportunities ahead of you,
and we join with your family
and friends in applauding you.
I now take great pleasure in introducing
Dr. Charles R. Modica,
chancellor and chairman
of the board of trustees
of St. George's University.
Chancellor Modica.
- My name is Charles Modica,
and I'm the chancellor of
St. George's University.
And it is my privilege to be here today
presiding over the 53rd
commencement ceremony
of St. George's.
You have persevered,
you have studied hard,
and this is your day.
I recognize each and
every one of your efforts
to be in the class of 2020
and the difference you
will make in the world.
The faculty and the staff
and the administration
are so proud of you.
And I know today,
your parents, and friends, and loved ones
are sharing this moment with you.
You may feel at the moment
that you, a member of the class of 2020,
have been deprived of the celebrations
you definitely deserve
because of all your hard
work and achievements.
However, you, actually,
stand at a crossroads
in human history when
the world is in turmoil
due to a global pandemic
that has been followed
in the United States
by the needless death of George Floyd
and the subsequent massive
protests of racial injustice.
However, you are uniquely
poised to bring positive change.
Although the protests and responses
seem overwhelming at the moment,
equality of all peoples and
races may be now in our sights.
St. George's University has
diversity in its core DNA.
Each of you are individuals
from over 60 countries
who have studied in Grenada, our home,
and you have worked, lived,
played side by side for years
with people from every race,
color, creed, and nationality.
Our faculty,
our faculty as well as our students,
are among the most diverse in the world.
Because of this diversity
that has been built into your academic
and student experience,
you are uncommonly prepared
to counter the forces
of prejudice and bias
that lead to the kinds of racial incidents
that separate people from each other
and rip apart the social fabric.
The totality of your
multicultural experience
at St. George's University
will prepare you to be an
exemplary citizen of the world
as well as an extraordinary
medical professional.
St. George's University
is especially significant
for its school of medicine
that has provided, in the past decade,
more physicians to the United States
than any other school in the world.
In our School of Veterinary Medicine,
excellence has been the answer.
And perseverance of
each and everyone of you
in your studies,
in your sense of accomplishment,
in your pride
are a factor in what makes
the class of 2020 so great.
I hope your family and friends recognize
the importance of this,
the dedication,
the dedication you have
made to your professions
to earn a doctorate degree.
The nation of Grenada is so proud.
You know that you did it.
We are on the sidelines,
but you achieved it.
You achieved your goals,
you gave up many things,
but you achieved your goals.
And you will go on
to be people in professions
that we can all be proud of.
I want to make sure that
each and everyone of you
is honored by your family and friends
who recognize what you
have done to be here today.
You're extraordinary.
You've done it well.
You've made Grenada proud,
the nation of Grenada proud.
You've made your family proud.
And one of the things I
think I'll miss the most
is at the end of every ceremony
I was so privileged
to shake each and every one of your hands
and give you a diploma
and address you as doctor.
I'll miss that opportunity,
but I hope that your loved ones and family
can give you a big hug
when they address you as doctor.
You've done it well.
- Thank you, Chancellor Modica.
I now invite Dr. Tara Paterson,
president of the School
of Veterinary Medicine
Alumni Association
to make some remarks.
Dr. Paterson.
- Greeting, graduates, from your beloved
island home of Grenada.
Just like you, I wish we
were all together today
in David Geffen Hall
celebrating your commencement.
But we cannot harp on what could've been.
Rather, we have to make the most of today
in our own special and unique ways,
and remember that even
though this graduation
isn't quite what you imagined it to be,
this does not in any way
minimize the grandeur
of your magnificent achievements.
On behalf of all of the faculty
at the School of Veterinary Medicine,
we would like to tell you how proud we are
of your hard work, dedication,
and sacrifices made
over the past four years
to reach your dreams of
becoming a veterinarian.
And, today, these dreams have come true.
Congratulations to the class of 2020.
As president of the
SVM Alumni Association,
I would like to officially welcome you
to this fraternity of SGU alumni.
We hope that you will
embrace your alumni family
just as you did your vet school family.
One of the goals of the alumni association
is to provide you with
networking opportunities
as you set off on this adventure
in veterinary medicine.
Do not hesitate to reach out
to fellow alumni in your community
or even across the country
as they are always more than willing
to help a fellow SGU alumnus.
The Alumni Relations Office
together with the alumni association
have several initiatives which
provide opportunities for you
to get involved in our alumni community
and with our SVM students.
So, as you carry on into your careers,
think about the impact that you can make
in this alumni fraternity
and on the next generation
of SGU veterinarians,
whether it will be participating
in a student mentorship program,
conducting interviews or info sessions
for prospective students,
doing a virtual presentation,
or becoming involved in
the alumni association,
whether it be at the executive level
or in your own region by
participating in or developing
a regional chapter of the association.
The alumni association
would like to celebrate
this momentous occasion
with a special gift that will be mailed
to each and everyone of you.
We hope that every time you use this gift,
it will bring back happy memories
of your time spent at SGU
and remind you of the alumni fraternity
that is here to support
you in any way they can.
I would like to thank the SGU
Hill's College Feeding Program
for sponsoring these gifts
for the class of 2020.
In closing, I would
like to say a heartfelt
congratulations to you all.
I know you all will be
amazing ambassadors of SGU.
We miss you,
we are so amazingly proud of you,
and we wish you all the very
best of success in the future.
Please keep in touch,
and don't forget to get involved.
Thank you.
- Thank you, Dr. Paterson.
I now invite Chancellor Charles Modica
to formally confer your degrees.
Will the candidates for
doctor of veterinary medicine
please stand wherever you are today.
- It is with the greatest
admiration and utmost respect
that I, Charles Modica,
a chancellor St. George's University,
by virtue of the authority vested in me
pursuant to the act of
parliament of Grenada of 1976
as amended,
upon recommendation of
the faculty and deans
of the School of Veterinary Medicine,
do hereby confer upon the
graduates of this class
the degree of doctor
of veterinary medicine.
Congratulations.
- Thank you, Chancellor Modica.
Please be seated.
The National Veterinary Honor Society
has selected St. George's University
to be the home of a chapter.
Our school was the first
international school
to receive this honor.
Several of our graduates
today have been inducted
as Phi Zeta members.
Each member will be recognized
in the commencement program.
And now we will view the 180 graduates
receiving the doctor of
veterinary medicine degree
in a slide presentation.
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I now invite Dr. Nicki Wise to lead us
in the Veterinarian's Oath.
Dr. Wise.
- Hello, class of 2020.
Along with the graduates,
I invite any veterinarian that's watching,
either practicing or retired,
to stand and recite with
us the Veterinarian's Oath.
The oath can be found on
the accompanying slide.
So, if all the graduates
will please stand.
We'll give you a second to
make sure you're standing.
And please read along with me.
Being admitted to profession
of veterinary medicine,
I solemnly swear to use my
scientific knowledge and skills
for the benefit of society
through the protection of
animal health and welfare,
the prevention and relief
of animal suffering,
the conservation of animal resources,
the promotion of public health,
and the advancement of medical knowledge.
I will practice my
profession conscientiously,
with dignity, in keeping
with the principles
of veterinary medical ethics.
I accept as a lifelong obligation
the continual improvement
of my knowledge and competence.
Congratulations, doctors.
You may be seated.
- Thank you, Dr. Wise.
Class of 2020, if you
have not already done so,
you may move your tassel
from the right side of
your hat to the left
to indicate that your
degree has been conferred.
Doctors of veterinary medicine,
it is my honor to be one of the first
to offer congratulations and welcome you
to one of the most noble
professions in the world,
veterinary medicine.
You have been given your diploma,
but you cannot be given an education.
That must be achieved, it must earned,
and, indeed, you have
accomplished that goal.
So, accept your degree with pride
as a symbol of your achievement.
It is a treasure that cannot
be lost, borrowed, or stolen.
It will afford you
respect and establish you
as an authoritative
figure in animal health.
It will open doors to a wide variety
of professional opportunities
to serve mankind through ministering
to the needs of billions
of animals on this planet.
And fostering the ongoing evolution
of one health, one medicine.
Without question, the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
demonstrates the enormous
need for veterinarians
engaged in one health, public health,
epidemiology, and biomedical research.
While you may now be
physically outside of Grenada,
you will continue to be an integral part
of St. George's University
School of Veterinary Medicine.
Please be a credit to your alma mater
and support it with good works.
Please look to your school
for continuing education
and consultation.
If you can, serve as a mentor
to the students and
classes following yours.
And please return frequently
to share with us the continuing
and lifelong education,
satisfaction, and joy
you will have received
as a doctor of veterinary medicine.
And, lastly, I would
like to share with you
a quote from George Washington Carver.
Quote, "How far you go
depends on your being
tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged,
sympathetic with the striving,
and tolerant of the weak and the strong.
Because someday you will
have been all of these,"
end of quote.
To each of you who are graduating today,
I extend, on behalf of
St. George's University,
our very best wishes for a productive
and rewarding career
in veterinary medicine.
I now invite Dr. David Scherbelis
of the graduating class of
2020 to make a few remarks.
Dr. Scherbelis was born in New York City
and grew up in Maryland.
He attended McGill University
and completed a Bachelor
of Arts in Psychology.
He is currently completing
an equine internship
at Piedmont Equine Associates in Georgia
with an emphasis on
theriogenology, sports medicine,
and general practice.
He hopes to continue to
work at this practice
as an associate veterinarian
through the next few years.
Dr. Scherbelis.
- A lot changes in four years.
Cubs won the World Series,
Capitals won the Stanley Cup,
and we as a group crossed a threshold
from student to doctor.
Four years ago, we all made
the life-changing decision
to pursue a career in veterinary medicine
at St. George's University.
We stood bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed (indistinct),
reciting the Veterinarian's
Oath in unison.
Some of our parents were there,
some of our grandparents were there.
At that point, it was the
biggest day of our lives.
If you're anything like me,
you spent that (indistinct)
looking past the next four years.
You didn't think of the countless
hours of lectures, labs,
and clinics awaiting you.
You imagine yourself sitting side by side
with your colleagues,
eagerly awaiting that diploma
we all worked so hard for.
Never did we think it would be like this.
But if the past four years
have taught us anything,
is that we're SGU graduates,
and when things don't go as planned,
we don't crumble, we rise.
Rather than wallow in pity
that we don't have our big ceremony,
we're here separate but together
to celebrate our accomplishment.
Today is a symbolic day,
the day that we cross the
professional threshold.
Finally, after all these
years, our schooling is done.
People will refer to us as doctor,
which I must admit
(indistinct) six months later.
It's the first day of our future,
but it does not mean that we
should throw away our past.
All of us share a love for animals
and a desire to be the best
veterinarians we can be.
We also share an experience,
an experience of jetting
away far from home
to a small island in the
Caribbean to pursue our dream.
It is what makes us special.
Everywhere we go, we're carrying
our stigma with a pride.
We didn't attend an island school,
we attended St. George's University
located in beautiful Grenada
where we received a world-class education
and learned how to maneuver
in sometimes less than
ideal circumstances.
SGU and Grenada
will always have a
special place in my heart,
and I hope they do for you as well.
For the three years we
spent together on island,
molded us into veterinarians
of the highest quality,
I know that every single one of you
will never neglect a patient
or ignore an honest concern
because that is who we are
and who we are trained to be.
Whether it's a blocked
cath at two in the morning
or a hip locked foal in the pouring rain,
we can always say, "I can handle this."
So, I know for a fact
that as we all sit at our
computers with our families
experiencing this virtual ceremony,
we're not disheartened.
We're making the most of what we have.
Today is a day for us to
celebrate becoming veterinarians,
achieving a goal that
many try and few complete.
We may not be under the lights
and with the crowds of New York City,
we're among family,
friends, and each other.
It's been an honor to
pursue my dream with you all
and I'm beyond proud to
call you my colleagues.
This may not have been ideal,
but in the end, (indistinct)
pot hole onto blue road.
- Thank you, Dr. Scherbelis.
And thank you all for
being such a wonderful
virtual audience.
Let us join in tribute with a
hearty self round of applause
for the world's newest veterinarians.
(applauds)
The final chapter in our ceremony
today is the recessional.
The recessional will be accompanied by
composite of several slides
representing all graduates.
Good luck, and godspeed.
Thank you.
(jubilant music)
- [Announcer] Thank you for joining us,
and congratulations to
all of our graduates!
