Congratulations, Class of 2025!
Congratulations to the Class of 2025 who received their degrees from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in its 75th Commencement Ceremony held at the Mondavi Center on May 23rd. Among those graduating were 142 DVM students, 34 residents and 8 students in the Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine program.
Associate Dean Karl Jandrey provided opening remarks and welcomed the three groups before the processional of all graduates. Dean Mark Stetter gave a warm welcome to the graduates, friends and families in attendance. He then introduced Dr. Jonna Mazet as commencement speaker.
As a renowned veterinary epidemiologist, University Distinguished Professor, and a member of the National Academy of Medicine, Mazet has been an international powerhouse in growing the One Health concept at an international level. More recently, she has taken on a senior campus leadership role as the Vice Provost of Grand Challenges for the entire campus. She is also a four-time alum from UC Davis including her B.S., M.S., DVM and Ph.D.
Watch memorable moments from the commencement ceremony in this episode of A Minute with Mark.
Mazet started with something akin to a Dad joke when she said that she wanted to channel Rodney Dangerfield and tell graduates: “It’s a jungle out there. You gotta look out for Number 1, but don’t step in Number 2…but no, I can’t do it, as you’ve just become veterinarians and I’m afraid that there’s a lot of Number 2 in your future!”
After some good laughs, Mazet recounted her journey, beginning as a state wildlife veterinarian. She was finding that diseases killing vulnerable coastal wildlife were the same as those causing the death of community members suffering from HIV-AIDS, which opened her eyes to how connected we are to each other and our environment. She went on to found the school’s One Health Institute and lead the PREDICT program, which placed her as a health advisor to world leaders.
“You WILL BE leaders in your community and should expect to be presented roles of leadership,” Mazet told the graduates. “One of you may even be in a future White House, leading our country—in whatever role you serve, you will have the opportunity to advocate for health, medicine, science, animals, people and the planet.”
She admitted there can be downsides to a career in veterinary medicine. “You may find yourself less respected than you likely deserve in some professional contexts. Some people will treat you more like an animal plumber or mechanic than the stellar professional that you have worked so hard to become. Always remember that this community knows how great you are.”
Mazet encouraged graduates to reach out and rely on each other on tough days. “Use what you have learned and practice the love of learning that I hope your education has stimulated,” she told them. “It is that ongoing thirst for knowledge and your ability to integrate it that gives me hope for our collective societal and planetary health. You are our future, and I am fully confident that we are in excellent hands.”
Dr. Joie Watson, associate dean of Professional Education then presented two 2025 School of Veterinary Medicine Medals to Jessica Coe and Savannah Tobin. This is the highest honor for a graduating DVM student in recognition of outstanding academic and clinical performance.
Dr. Grace VanHoy served as the student-selected faculty speaker. VanHoy is a livestock medicine and surgery specialist with a love for parasites.
“I watched you all grow up as baby veterinarians,” she told the students. “From the classroom where I taught you about the superiority of animals with greater than one stomach, and the absolute craziness of how the tiniest nematode can make the biggest impact. I bet you can’t count how many sleepless nights you spent cramming for exams, prepping for client communications simulations, or re-watching lectures. Then I watched all your hard work come together while you took on the different challenges of your clinical year. And now, you are here! You made it!”
With big life changes—such as graduating—comes big uncertainty. That can feel uncomfortable and challenging. She offered a few things that have helped her over the years.
1) The importance of failure. “It turns out, the first step to becoming very good at something, is to suck real bad at it first. A great learner and a strong human will find value in the mistakes. It’s not that practice makes perfect, it is that practice is perfect.”
2) Always assume that someone has good intentions, that they do the best with the tools they have at the time. “These might not be the same set of tools you have, or that you expect. As Ted Lasso said, ‘Be curious, not judgmental’. Find a common goal, try to walk in their shoes, that is what humanity looks like.”
3) The epidemiology of hope. “I bet you didn’t think you’d have an epidemiology lecture during this graduation! Difficult and unpredictable are the two words that seem to describe what the world feels like right now. There is much out of our control, and that feels scary. But there are some things that are within our control. It turns out, that hope and compassion are not finite resources, and that hope and compassion are infectious. Even if it’s small, it spreads.”
In closing, she encouraged students to consider the power of awe. “Find awe in the nooks and crannies of your life, little things that remind you that the universe is big and busy and the hard moment you are in isn’t everything even if it feels that way. Celebrate the unique weirdness of all the humans you meet. Today, I stand here in awe of each and every one of you. Look how far you’ve come. Look at the sacrifices you’ve made, and think about how proud the 12-year old version of you would be of where you stand today. Work hard at work worth doing, stay humble, and save a place for feeling awe at the little things. We are so proud to call you colleagues, and we are always here on the other end of the phone.”
Student speaker Jennifer Grimes spent a decade in the nonprofit sector supporting individuals with HIV/AIDS in major cities across the U.S. after completing her undergraduate and master’s degrees.
“I, like many of you, may be wondering ‘what in the world were they thinking by nominating the 44-year-old large animal student to speak on behalf of our class?’” Grimes joked. “What they were hoping for me to stand up here and say? However, I have begun to realize that it’s the fact that I am standing up here at all. You see, I joined our class not from undergrad, a graduate program, or even from working another career. Rather it was from over 10 years in cancer treatment-a decade of chemotherapy infusion rooms, PET/CT scans, learning to read my own blood work and navigating health care as a patient that led up to me joining our class. A class made up of the very best of the best.”
She said her story is a representation of the grit, resilience and moments of gratitude that make up the Class of 2025 and what drove everyone on the stage across the finish line.