CALF_News_August_September_2021

28 CALF News • August | September 2021 • www.calfnews.net WTAMU’s Rousing Ag College Resources Doc’s serious side has never swayed from helping A&M and more recentlyWT. He has made numerous trips to Canyon to help open one of the nation’s most innovative agricultural college programs. The VERO and diagnostic laboratory are part of the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. The VERO Building is a $22-million, 36,000-square-foot facil- ity that serves as a veterinary teaching center. It creates a gateway "DOC" GRAHAM VET FACILITIES Continued from page 25 to the CVMBS in College Station for Panhandle andWest Texas area students interested in pursuing veterinary medicine. The TVMDL facility is a $17.6-million, 22,000-square-foot building that features the latest technology for diagnostic ser- vices in bacteriology, pathology, serology and virology, as well as spaces for receiving, processing, necropsy and support. The opening of the building last September signaled relocation to Canyon from Amarillo. It has been vital to the region’s mammoth cattle feeding industry as an extension of the College Station-based laboratory. The lab has expanded to offering testing for almost every animal species for some of the largest animal ag companies in the world, as well as the ever- important smaller, indepen- dent producers. Doc Graham will be a last- ing institution in Aggieland and Texas equine and cattle industries. His generosity through his wisdom and sup- port of the A&M family and all of Texas agriculture has made many in southwestern agriculture richer in more ways than one.  TEXAS VET SCHOOL Continued from page 27 workplace. “This will help them be more productive in a veterinary practice, which will help generate more business and generate more income,” he says. While the new SVM is in the heart of cattle feeding and dairy country, and will train vets for the Southwest’s huge cow- calf, stocker cattle and equine industries, training will also include small-animal care. “If a student comes from a small community, he or she will be more likely to want to go back and serve one of those communities. Those rural areas need large-animal vets, but they will also need a small-animal vet with a small- town background,” Dascanio says. Long Time Coming Interest in establishing a Texas Tech veterinary medical program started in 1971. As the regional cattle feeding and dairy industries grew, there was a call for more large-animal vets. SVM background information notes that, in 2016, the Texas Higher Educa- tion Coordinating Board (THECB) rec- ommended consideration of a proposal “for a new college of veterinary medical education.” It would specifically produce large-animal vets “in an innovative, cost- efficient manner that does not duplicate existing efforts.” TTU conducted a feasibility assess- ment, and began planning and develop- ment efforts. In 2018, THECB confirmed the cre- ation of the TTU School of Veterinary Medicine. Groundbreaking was in Sep- tember 2019. Amarillo Mayor Ginger Nelson is among many city leaders who were eager to welcome the SVM to the city’s vibrant medical center. “Amarillo is a very special community, and everyone here knows how important quality animal care is to our economy,” she said. “This school gives Amarillo a competitive advantage and opens the doorway to a wide array of opportunities for students, farmers, researchers and so many others.” Dascanio says the need is clearly there for more veterinary training in Texas. Texas A&M’s vet school graduates about 180 students annually. SVM will gradu- ate about 100 students at its full capac- ity, which will help serve the state and its growing population that surpasses 30 million. Dascanio and Conklin realize Tech has always had a friendly rivalry with A&M. But they know it shouldn’t interfere with the beginning of the new SVM, or the growth of A&M’s new pre- vet program through neighboring West Texas A&M University in Canyon. Conklin himself earned his DVM at A&M in College Station. “In fact, most of our vet partners are Aggies,” he says. “We recognize the need for a broader look at veterinary education for Texas and area states.” The passion within the SVM pro- gram is illustrated in its inspirational social media program. On its TTUVet- Med Facebook page, many of its nearly 60 faculty members along with new students help introduce the program. When members of the SVM Class of 2025 attend orientation on Aug. 9 and their first day of classes on Aug. 16, the Matador Song will have a new #Raider- Vet tone to it. For Red Raiders, it will be “Guns Up” to a new era of Texas veterinary training.  LEFT: Doc Graham shared “horse trading” stories with long-time friends Johnny and Jana Trotter during the dedication ceremonies. Doc and Johnny are both giants in the equine and cattle industry. RIGHT: Doc Graham talks cattle and A&M with fellow producers James Henderson and Mary Lou Bradley-Henderson.