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Story by Kay Norton

Seventeen 2025 bachelor’s degree graduates of South ��ֱ���� State University recently celebrated their acceptance into veterinary school, including six who will attend the SDSU Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine offered in conjunction with the University of Minnesota.
The grads participated in the 14th annual Stethoscope Ceremony hosted by SDSU and the South ��ֱ���� Veterinary Medical Association. 

Students who will enter the SDSU Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine are: Kinsey Carr, Dell Rapids; Grace Cheeseman, Chamberlain; Tara Feucht, Brookings; Madison Hofer, Freeman; Sage Mortenson, Groton; and Avrie Shefl, Vermillion. 

SDSU’s multidisciplinary program is under the Division of the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine, within SDSU’s Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences. It is made possible through a formal cooperative agreement, in which students admitted into the professional program complete the first two years of their veterinary medical education at SDSU and then transfer to the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine for the final two years of study. 

SDSU grads who have been accepted into other veterinary schools are: Greta Adolf and Anna Moser, both of Aberdeen (Kansas State University); Huntyr Atkins of Pearl City, Illinois, and Dani Warner of Worland, Wyoming (Ross University); Callie Coble of Mullen, Nebraska (University of Nebraska); Emma Hansel of Waverly, Iowa, Grace Jardon of Huxley, Iowa, and Ella Kreber of Granville, Iowa (Iowa State University); Jess Hewitt of Mulino, Oregon (Louisiana State University); Sam Stahl of Canton (University of Minnesota); and Taylor Sutton of Rosemount, Minnesota (Royal Veterinary College). 

Each student participating in the Stethoscope Ceremony received a professional stethoscope provided by SDSU and the state veterinary association, individually presented by a special mentor of the graduate’s choosing. Opening remarks were made by department head and veterinarian Dr. Angela Pillatzki; Provost Dennis Hedge; South ��ֱ���� Corn Endowed Dean of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Joseph Cassady; and veterinarian Dr. Broc Mauch, representing the South ��ֱ���� Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Russ Daly, Extension veterinarian, professor in the SDSU Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and state public health veterinarian for the South ��ֱ���� Department of Health, presided over the ceremony held in the Hobo Day Gallery at the University Student Union in May. 

“We are exceptionally proud of all of our graduates who have worked incredibly hard and have chosen to pursue a career in veterinary medicine, a field with a very high demand for qualified individuals,” Cassady said. “It is especially exciting to welcome more than one-third of these students into the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine right here at SDSU.”