Grateful Clients Honor Their Veterinarians with $100,000 Scholarship Endowment to LSU Veterinary School

March 11, 2009

(l. to r.) Dr. Steven Everson, Gigi and Dewey Corley, and Dr. Brad Everson at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine Sculpture Garden.

Dewey and Gigi Corley cherish their 10-year-old chocolate Labrador Retriever, Darby. When she became ill in December, the Corleys took Darby to their veterinarians, Dr. Steven Everson (LSU 1979) and Dr. Brad Everson (LSU 2005) at Southern Hills Animal Hospital in Shreveport, La. Dr. Brad Everson (LSU 2005) did exploratory surgery on Darby and found a bleeding tumor, indicating cancer. They stopped the bleeding and referred the Corleys to the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. While at the LSU SVM, Darby underwent diagnostic testing and further surgery where doctors removed her spleen, left kidney, and an adrenal tumor. She is now back at home with her family.

To express their gratitude for the efforts of both the Eversons and the faculty, staff, and students at the LSU SVM, the Corleys have pledged $100,000 to the LSU SVM for the establishment of the Dr. Steven D. Everson and Dr. Bradley S. Everson Honorary Endowed Scholarship, which will provide a $5,000 scholarship to a deserving student each year starting in 2009. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on financial need and scholastic aptitude. Until the endowment produces earnings of $5,000, the Corleys will make additional annual gifts so the scholarship can disburse this amount immediately. The first award will be given out this April.

On March 5, the Corleys and the Eversons visited the LSU SVM to commemorate the scholarship and to tour of the Veterinary Medicine Building. “What a great day for the School of Veterinary Medicine,” said Dean Peter F. Haynes. “This is the School’s largest scholarship endowment from a client, and we are most grateful for that. We cannot overemphasize the importance of scholarships as they help underpin the educational journey of our students, which is not without substantial obligations. This gift has five key elements: an animal in need, the referring veterinarians with whom we collaborate (and both of whom are also our alumni), a very competent and caring clinical team here at the LSU SVM, the grateful clients who have made an extraordinary commitment to our School, and the students, who reflect the core mission of the School of Veterinary Medicine and who are integral to our clinical program. We hope that this gift will be a model that will enable us to expand the connectivity between referring veterinarians, grateful clients, and the School of Veterinary Medicine. It will clearly strengthen our programs, and I want to express our sincere appreciation for this gift.”

In establishing this scholarship, the Corleys noted that, for the past eleven years, Darby has been a companion who has shown unfailing love and unquestioning devotion, and this scholarship is a tangible expression of their gratitude to Dr. Steven Everson and Dr. Bradley Everson, as well as the outstanding doctors and staff of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. “We feel like we are the beneficiaries of the excellent services of both the Eversons and the medical staff at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine,” said Dewey Corley. “They have extended the life of someone who is very special to us.”

Both Steven and Brad Everson are graduates of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. “My father and I are deeply honored to have this scholarship made in our names,” said Brad. “Most importantly, the Corley’s have achieved their goal of giving back to the profession that gave them more time with their beloved dog, Darby. This scholarship represents how a cohesive effort can benefit all those involved. Throughout the whole ordeal the Corleys were thoroughly pleased and impressed with the accommodations, professionalism, and vigilant care with which Darby was treated. As veterinarians we can take for granted how powerful our jobs can and should be. We are members of a fortunate profession and should never forget those that helped us get to our position.”

It is the Corley’s hope that recipients of this scholarship will develop into the same kind of fine doctors that Steve Everson and Brad Everson exemplify. It is their further hope that after graduation, scholarship recipients will also remember how meaningful this financial support had been during their student years and that they will, to the extent they are able, support students that follow them with donations to benefit the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

Student support is a critical pillar of the Forever LSU campaign, an historic effort to acquire more than $750 million in support for LSU by the end of the year 2010. To find out how you can support LSU students campus-wide, and join the campaign for LSU’s future, visit www.foreverlsu.org.