Kellogg Foundation awards McDavid 2024 Community Engagement Scholarship award
(l to r) Lindley McDavid and Interim Dean Phillip J. VanFossen with Loran C. Parker, Sandy SanMiguel, Wilella Burgess, Grace Craig, and Laura Warner (Photo/DeEtte Starr)
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation honored Lindley McDavid, senior evaluation and research association with the Evaluation and Learning Research Center, with a 2024 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Awards at an awards ceremony in Portland, OR.
McDavid received the award for her work on behalf of the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine STEM Program’s League of VetaHumanz project.
Seeking to address disparities in STEM programming for children, Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Education’s Evaluation and Learning Research Center, local public schools, and community organizations developed and delivered veterinary STEM curriculum focused on keeping people and their animals healthy. Led by Purdue and supported by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the program was replicated and scaled at other universities, evolving into a veterinary superhero league, The League of VetaHumanz, where teams of veterinarians and students partner with community organizations/schools to deliver the curriculum to under-resourced children.
Role models develop a sense of belonging to the community, communication skills, and intercultural responsiveness while addressing community needs for positive and nurturing STEM educational experiences that build self-efficacy and seed career aspirations for children. To date, over 200 Purdue veterinary students have participated, spending over 1,346 hours in service to the community in 2023 alone. Nationally, over 600 role models in 25 states have delivered in-person experiences through the effort.