Cummings School Students Come Together for SAVMA’s Annual Welcome BBQ
The first week of classes at Cummings wrapped up with some fun: the Student American Veterinary Medical Association’s (SAVMA) annual welcome to school barbecue, this year cleverly titled VetFest.
VetFest certainly lived up to its new moniker. More than 200 Cummings students and faculty attended the event on Friday evening, August 27 at Phelps Field.
Students lined up for grilled burgers and hot dogs, played games like frisbee and baseball, and hung out on the grass with friends enjoying the music.
“People told me this was the first time they felt like they were on a real campus,” said SAVMA president-elect, Tanya Nasra V’24, who organized VetFest along with social committee chairs, Anna Marie Cooksey V’25 and Allison Ross V’24.
One of SAVMA’s biggest events, the welcome barbecue typically gives first-year students the chance to meet and get to know one another. This year the same held true for second-years, as the event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID.
“Classes were held online last year, so we couldn’t connect with each other in person. Except for some labs, V’24s only saw each other on Zoom,” added Nasra. “To have a class of 100 people and only know about 25 of them, I think contributed to such a great turn out from not only first-years but also second-years. We saw clinical students stop by too.”
Another big draw to the annual barbecue is the club fair. SAVMA serves as an umbrella organization to all the veterinary clubs available to Cummings students.
First-years strolled the tables showcasing more than 30 clubs—such as the Diagnostic Imaging Club, Holistic Medicine Club, and Behavior Club—and veterinary-related companies, including Purina, Royal Canin, and VetGirl.
A nonprofit organization, SAVMA represents more than 17,000 veterinary students. Nasra explained, “The purpose of SAVMA is to connect vet students all across the U.S.”
After more than a year of virtual learning, SAVMA’s VetFest helped connect the veterinary students of Cummings School as they kicked off the new school year.