Welcome to the Hooding Ceremony for the class of 2013. Congratulations to the proud parents, family members, and friends, and welcome to our faculty, staff, and guests. As Cornell s 10th Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, I am delighted to welcome you to the college s hooding ceremony and to celebrate with you the accomplishments of Cornell s outstanding class of 2013. I want to start by recognizing the faculty of the college of veterinary medicine. Would the faculty please rise and be recognized by our students and our guests. I would like to especially acknowledge our distinguished faculty who will retire this year Drs. Ned Dykes, William Hornbuckle, Paul Bowser, Braam Bezuidenhaut, John Ludders, Klaus Beyenbach, Don Schlafer, Wayne Schwark, and Bud Tennant. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Linda Tintle, President of the New York State Veterinary Medical Society, and Dr. Ed Geshry, Treasurer of the Alumni Executive Board of the College, who will help honor our students today. And most importantly, I would like to provide our graduating students the opportunity to rise and thank those in the audience who have contributed so much to the achievements that we celebrate today. Congratulations also to our superb Cornell interns and residents completing their post DVM training programs. Please join me congratulating our Ph.D. degree awardees who have completed thesis work and will attend their degree ceremony later this afternoon. And last, but certainly not least, congratulations to the DVM Class of 2013.
So, colleagues: I would like to say a few words about this wonderful profession of ours and the challenges in front of you. Ours is a profession of commitment, compassion, and creativity. You well know that your accomplishments enabled you to enter areas that are better compensated, that your education is costly, and that many of you chose veterinary medicine because of your compassion and connection to creatures great and small. You chose veterinary medicine because you have a passion for discovery and a sense that the world's problems can best be tackled through approaches that appreciate the complex relationships between us and our fellow species, the amazing connections that link us to our environment, and the essential similarities that underlie the concept of "one medicine". Your commitment and broad compassion to all of god's creatures is a wonderful attribute that i hope you will not lose as many of you now naturally begin to specialize in specific areas and focus on more practical aspects of your early career. I want to thank you for the energy and enthusiasm that you have brought to the college and urge you to maintain your idealism and to become the thought leaders in our profession. Cornellians have been leaders since James Law shaped the future of veterinary education in the United States. Your fellow Cornell alumni and Cornell faculty are world renowned specialists, public health and infectious disease experts, highly respected educators and authors, and ground breaking scientists. They are also practice builders and employers, and leaders in our professional associations. Now you join them, and you do so at a time of significant concern about the economic viability of our profession. We are in the midst of a national conversation about debt, demand, cost, and supply, as are many other professions. I urge you to engage in that discussion and to help us solve these problems in a measured and thoughtful way. Together we have the capacity and ability to address these challenges. You are now part of the solution and i have a few parting pieces of advice: First, take the broadest and highest view of veterinary medicine. Veterinarians are highly respected because the public has come to expect broadly trained professionals with outstanding competence and compassion. A profession in which the highest standards of evidence based medicine, the most informed medical judgments, and technical
excellence are the norm. I do worry that some solutions to current economic concerns sound very much like compromising this vision. Once diminished, the extraordinary esteem in which the general public holds veterinary medicine will be very, very difficult to recapture. Trust is a fragile commodity, which takes decades to build. We must work diligently to establish and maintain productive relationships with our clients and with those in our communities, recognizing that trust is often equated with consistency of character. Second, be confident in your training and yourselves and don't be afraid of taking risks. Despite significant educational debt, Kelly Sparito, Class of 2007, purchased a practice in Florida just 4 years after graduating. Undeterred by uncertain financial times, Kelly was confident in her professional and personal skills, and carefully evaluated the financial and personal risk. She now has employees, a mortgage, and a growing practice and is accruing equity. Her business is growing despite the economy and the critical issues facing our profession. You've already ignored those who have tried to dissuade you from pursuing your passion. Continue to follow your dreams. Finally, be positive ambassadors of veterinary medicine. Despite all of the challenges, we are a profession of tremendous strengths, and your intelligence and energy is not least among them. There have always been, and always will be, people who say that you cannot succeed, and frankly, there are far too many in our profession who focus only on the threats and not on the opportunities. Yes we face significant challenges as a profession. Don't be afraid to communicate your passion to your clients, to young people also seeking to enter veterinary medicine, and to everyone around you. Most importantly, don't discourage those behind you and seek to close the door once your through it. While there are legitimate questions about supply and demand in our profession, the worst thing we can do is to discourage others with talent and commitment, people like you, from joining us. Many of you know that yesterday Carolyn and I were in Annapolis to watch President Obama congratulate and commission our daughter, as she was graduated from the United States Naval Academy. I was struck by the many parallels between our graduates. The selflessness that I have seen in you over the past 4 years. The unwavering commitment to an exacting code of conduct and professionalism. The leadership and self governance of our students. And, unfortunately, the relatively modest compensation in both careers. Our military institutions and our profession face organizational, financial, and ethical challenges. The answer to these, our best hope, is you. The president challenged the naval and marine graduates to adopt the
highest ideals, to uphold the most rigorous ethical standards, and to embrace their role as leaders. I urge you to do the same. You should be proud that you have been trained to the highest standards, and that you have fulfilled our highest expectations. I sincerely hope that cornell will always embody those expectations and continue to lead our wonderful profession. That We continue to promote the broad biomedical training that is a fundamental feature of Cornell s veterinary education. Our patients are best served when knowledge gained at the bench is integrated with approaches prescribed in the exam room. It is this union that best positions us to not only treat, but to prevent and cure the conditions that threaten animal health, including ours. This is your time. Your time to advance options and solutions to our shared challenges. Your time to challenge conventional wisdom. Your time to challenge yourselves and take informed risks. Your time to imagine and make the discoveries and advances. It is your time to define the possible and by so doing, to shape our future. We have tried to instruct and inspire you in the foundations, the practice, and the art of our medicine. Now it is up to you. You have made the transition from students to colleagues and I speak for all of my fellow faculty in congratulating you on that transition. As you begin this next phase of your journey, I would ask you to think about what i call the CORNELL compact your responsibility to us and our responsibility to you as you graduate and say goodbye to your colleagues in Ithaca. Our responsibility is to continue to make you proud of us and of your degree; to continue the tradition begun by Cornell s founders and so many of our famous faculty and alumni; to advance the leading veterinary college and our profession; to drive discovery; to create new knowledge, to train the leaders of the future, and to work as hard as we can to live up to your vision of us. Your responsibility is to continue to make us proud of you; to give life to the values and knowledge that we have imparted, to become leaders of your profession, or your practice, or your company; to become the teachers and scientists of the future. To develop the strategies that successfully addresses the challenges of the future. Remember that you are Cornell veterinarians and that you carry with you that special legacy and responsibility.
Today, we officially become your alma mater and you officially become our alumni, and we are bound together in that compact that will continue to influence, enhance, and shape our future. Cornell was conceived as an institution that would harness the loftiest and advanced scientific knowledge for the greatest public good. We have been a force for discovery and innovation in veterinary medicine since 1868, and it is now your privilege and your responsibility to carry that legacy forward. I know that every one of you, in your own way, will look for opportunities to advance our great profession, to practice medicine in the best and most ethical way that you can, and to relieve suffering wherever you encounter it. Your accomplishments are our accomplishments, and I can't wait to hear about them. To the members of the class of 2013, to our accomplished interns and residents, and to our outstanding graduate students: congratulations. I am proud of each and every one of you and see many great things in your future.