Texas A&M’s Veterinary Campus In Texas Panhandle Celebrates Its First Aggie Ring Day
Story by Megan Myers, VMBS Communications
Students in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ (VMBS) 2+2 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) Program celebrated their first Aggie Ring Day 527 miles from the Texas A&M campus in Canyon on April 14.
Nine second-year veterinary students received Aggie Rings, symbolizing that they have completed at least 45 credit hours toward their professional DVM degrees at Texas A&M.
“Earning an Aggie Ring is a great accomplishment and I am delighted that our 2+2 students at the Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach campus had the opportunity to celebrate with their friends and family, just like their classmates in College Station,” said Dr. John R. August, the Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Texas A&M. “Being located in different cities has not changed the fact that our 2+2 students complete the same rigorous curriculum to become eligible for their rings and that they will cherish them as all Aggies do.
“I extend my congratulations to each of the nine students at VERO receiving their Aggie Rings this semester, as well as to the students receiving rings here in College Station,” he said.
The Aggie Ring Day ceremony at the VMBS’ Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach (VERO) campus in the Texas Panhandle included remarks from faculty members who attended Texas A&M, the traditional ring presentation by students’ family and friends, and a light lunch.
Dr. Dan Posey, the VMBS’ director of student recruitment and professional relationships and a clinical professor at VERO, opened the ceremony with the story of receiving his own Aggie Ring and what it means to him.
“When others look at you and see your Aggie ring, they will be expecting to see you live up to the core values of the university,” Posey said. “A great honor it is to wear the Aggie ring, an even greater responsibility. Those of you who have earned the right to wear the Aggie Ring clearly have been through some of the toughest academic standards of this world. I hope you will remember all that it means, and I hope it means as much to you as it does to me.”
“It’s the first Aggie tradition that a lot of the students are experiencing,” said Devon King, a second-year veterinary student at VERO who helped plan the event. “They hadn’t really felt the true spirit of Aggieland before, so we wanted them to be able to experience that.”
King earned her own Aggie Ring during her undergraduate education at Texas A&M and chose to help plan VERO’s first Ring Day to give her classmates the same traditional experience she had.
“I’m a first-generation college student, and a first-generation Aggie, so, for me, it was a really big deal to be recognized for having higher education,” King said.
“I’m excited that we’re able to make Ring Day happen at VERO, and I’m glad to bring the spirit of Aggieland to Canyon,” she said. “I’m also really glad that a lot of the students getting rings invited their parents and asked them to come present their rings in the traditional A&M way.”
King cited her Aggie Ring as a tool that has helped her make connections and even find job opportunities.
“I’m not from Texas, but I want to stay here, so it’s important for me to create my own network. A lot of times, it’s as easy as someone seeing your Aggie ring and starting a conversation with you,” King said. “Recently, some classmates and I were at a Cheddar’s here in Amarillo and an older gentleman who was also an Aggie saw that two of us had rings on; he came over and talked to us for 20 minutes and then ended up paying for our meal.”
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For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216
