History

Advertised as the “only private veterinary college in the Missouri Valley,” St, Joseph Veterinary College opened in 1905, graduating its first class in 1908.  Its federally approved three-year program led to a D.V.M. degree.   K.S.U. notes that the curriculum was rigidly controlled by the government; it included anatomy, chemistry, histology, language of medicine, parasitology, pathology, and physiology— with heavy emphasis on material medica.

 

The entrance requirement for S.J.V.C. was “two years’ high school training or its equivalent.”  At the annual meeting of the Missouri Valley Veterinary Association, President Burton C. Rogers argued that requiring a high school diploma “kept out lots of fellows who had practical experience with animals but hadn’t had a chance to go to school.”  He stated that requiring a high school diploma would attract only the “silver spoon king boy who is looking for a snap.”   In 1914 the Omaha Bee reported that S.J.V.C. would accept students over the age of 21 who had at least one year of high school, provided they made up the entrance requirements one year before graduation.  S.J.V.C. had made arrangements with the local YMCA for students to take special training in “academic courses” to allow these students to meet the requirements.

 

At the outbreak of World War I, S.J.V.C. student—like all veterinary students—were inducted into military service on a 24-hour-notice.  There they served at remount stations and as food inspectors.  Soon advertisements began to target seventeen year olds, advising them that since they were likely to be conscripted if the war continued, they should consider entering S.J.V.C. so that they would achieve an officer’s rank and pay when they entered service .  At the end of the war, S.J.V.C. enjoyed its largest enrollment of 158.

 

Around 1919 S.J.V.C. lost accreditation with the American Veterinary Medical Association—largely because it did not require a high school diploma for matriculation.  Despite raising entrance requirements, S.J.V.C. was again denied accreditation in 1920 and 1921.  By 1923 S.J.V.C. advertised itself as the “practitioners school,” and entrance requirements were lowered to one year of high school.

 

About one in three S.J.V.C. students were married and maintained residence in St. Joseph.  The student body was supported by a ladies auxiliary that arranged dances and other social events for the students.  Newspapers note banquets and picnics in Hyde Park.