Vet School begins construction project

The School of Veterinary Medicine held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new teaching and research building on Saturday, at the same time kicking off the final phase of a $100 million fundraising campaign.

Named "Building New Levels of Excellence," the campaign aims to improve the institution as a whole and has already raised $78 million.

Part of these funds will go toward the $54 million construction project, which will encompass both a new building and a redesign of the surrounding intersection.

Saturday's ceremony was held at 3900 Delancey St., near the 38th Street and Baltimore Avenue site where construction will begin in June and reach completion in the fall of 2006.

Because groundbreaking on the actual site would have been hampered by the presence of mud, a symbolic gesture was made by inaugurating the operations in a sandbox -- with an unusual official to do the honors.

"The ground was broken by a dog of the Pennsylvania Task Force, a black Labrador," Veterinary School Communications Director Helma Weeks said. "It was not the traditional school thing, and it was appropriate."

Following the event, Vet School Dean Alan Kelly presented University President Judith Rodin with the silver Bellwether Award -- the school's highest prize -- for "her strong support and help," Weeks said.

Vet School officials decided to include this unscheduled event in the ceremony as a way to thank Rodin for advocating to Harrisburg legislators the school's prominence and contribution to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

When Rodin addressed the crowd of nearly 200 -- made up of alumni, donors, faculty, students and staff -- "she reiterated that the Vet School is one of the leading institutions in the field," Weeks said, adding that Rodin also stressed the importance of the ties existing between the Vet School and the School of Medicine, bringing to the forefront the concept of "one medicine."

In realizing this vision, Penn was assisted by government resources as well.

"The school received $18 million from the commonwealth," Development and Alumni Relations Assistant Director Mark Stuart said. "About $2 million came from the federal government, $12 million from the school and University funds, and the [remaining $17 million] from private sources."

With an ultimate goal of raising $100 million, the Vet School has a specific plan for allocating these resources.

The $54 million to be used on construction is part of $60 million that the school has designated to improve the institution's facilities.

Nearly $16 million was allocated to the construction of the new building, while the remaining portion of the $54 million will be used for related projects, such as sponsoring professorships and improvements to the Equine Building of the New Bolton Center.

Another $20 million of the predicted $100 million will become part of the school's endowment, and the remaining $20 million will be devoted to current operations and research funds.

The groundbreaking ceremony was preceded by five "Classes Without Quizzes" lectures held by some of the school's faculty.

The day ended with a dinner at the Hilton Inn at Penn, where Nobel Laureate and keynote speaker James Watson -- one of the scientists who discovered the DNA sequence in 1953 -- gave a speech on the research surrounding the human genome. He said that researchers' understanding of the human genome is currently benefiting from studies on the dog genome.

"This genome is very close to that of humans," Stuart said, adding that the two share about 95 percent of genetic material. He added that investigations in this field are "a more viable undertaking than the comparative research currently done with mice."

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