Alpha Psi Connects and Serves

With more than 30 student organizations on campus, students at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University have a wide variety of opportunities to get involved, including clubs sharing common academic interests, service-oriented groups, or local chapters of national organizations.

“Alpha Psi is one of the few organizations that is not trying to teach its members,” says Emma Stillman, V24 (she/her/hers), current president of the school’s Omicron chapter of Alpha Psi. “We are providing an opportunity to have fun while meeting fellow students and professors outside of a classroom.”

In 1981, three years after Tufts veterinary school opened, the Omicron Chapter of Alpha Psi was established. A professional co-educational fraternity for veterinary students, Alpha Psi was first founded in 1907 at Ohio State University and approximately 10 colleges of veterinary medicine maintain active chapters.

All D.V.M. students are eligible to join the fraternity, which fosters community and connection through participation in social events and fundraisers, such as its first event, according to Emma.

“We sell dissection kits, suture boards, and gloves to the incoming class, which they will need to practice their anatomy and clinical skills,” Emma explains. 

“Alpha Psi also secures sponsorships from organizations and raises funds through an admissions fee,” explains Meaghan Burrows, V24, former Alpha Psi co-president. “Proceeds are donated to the Travis Fund on campus, which helps to finance the veterinary care for those that cannot afford it, or for animals that are found in need of care and brought to a Cummings School hospital or clinic. We donated $1,000 to the Travis Fund last year.”

Due to the restrictions on gatherings during the pandemic, some of Alpha Psi’s programming has been curtailed the past few years, but Emma looks forward to the popular Vet Olympics, where teams of students compete annually during a spring day in events such as the egg toss, human pyramid building, and tug-of-war. “The Vet Olympics is really fun and brings faculty and students together in a way that few other events do,” Emma says. 

This year, Emma is considering several new Alpha Psi events, including a Zoomba night at a local dance studio, a movie night, as well as off-campus excursions such as ice skating or bowling.

For more information, or to get involved with Alpha Psi, students can contact Emma at emma.stillman@tufts.edu.