REPORT: CRT is making its way into veterinary schools

'The veterinary profession in the United States, including California, originally was dominated by white males.'

A recent analysis from CriticalRace.org found that veterinary schools in at least 11 states have implemented Critical Race Theory (CRT) or aspects of CRT into their curriculum or administrative processes.

A recent analysis from CriticalRace.org found that veterinary schools in at least 11 states have implemented Critical Race Theory (CRT) or aspects of CRT into their curriculum or administrative processes. 

The report reveals that California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin are all home to veterinary schools that include CRT in their curriculum

[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Lecture materials reveal Arizona prof pushing CRT in political science course]

For example, a document titled “Actions to Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice” from the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine affirms the school’s commitment to “address social justice, racial discrimination, and positive community engagement,” in light of George Floyd’s death, and states that “The veterinary profession in the United States, including California, originally was dominated by white males.”

”This shifted dramatically in the last few decades through the 1972 passage of Title IX, with white women becoming the overwhelming majority,” continues the document. ”Through a combined effort of national and local efforts by academic institutions and others, progress has been made to diversify the profession.”

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine also removed its Graduate Record Examination requirement in 2022, “after studies showed systemic bias in the GRE.” This change was made to demonstrate the school’s “commitment to increasing diversity and decreasing inequities among applicants to our DVM program.”

Among UC Davis’ diversity initiatives are a program that has the veterinary students and faculty  ’provide veterinary and medical services to the underserved agricultural community of Knights Landing, California.’

Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences boasts that it “weaves inclusion and diversity learning outcomes directly into our curriculum at all levels, helping to prepare our graduates to be fully ready to lead, adapt to change, and be successful in a global society,” and that a “session on cultural competency is in the core curriculum for DVM students in their first and second years.

Similarly, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine announced in 2020 that it was ”in the process of implementing a new 2-year integrated core curriculum” that “requires demonstration of inclusivity and cultural competence.”

Likewise, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine offers a ‘Microaggressions and Bias in Vetmed’ session. This session provides, “definitions and examples of both conscious and unconscious bias and microaggressions in a veterinary setting.”

[RELATED: Esteemed medical journal calls for segregated med school

CriticleRace.Org is a, “a resource for parents and students concerned about how Critical Race Theory, and implementation of Critical Race Training, impacts education.”

In 2018 Campus Reform identified one of the first instances of this phenomenon and reported that Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine “established a $3.18 million federally-funded program meant to “increase diversity in veterinary medicine.”’

All mentioned schools and organizations were contacted prior to the publication of this article.