Dr. Thwaits

Someone I know and respect greatly was dealt a great wrong today. Those of you who live in Utah Valley may have read something about a civil case involving the wrongful termination of Dr. Richard Thwaits from BYU. Today, the jury found in favor of BYU. I only recently did a little research into the details of the case, and had no idea how great an impact it had on my educational experience. I am heartbroken and devastated in behalf of “Dr. T” and the jury’s decision to rule in favor of BYU. I have worked very closely with Dr. T for over 4 years, and have the greatest respect and admiration for him as not only a veterinarian, but as an educator, leader, and human being. He is honorable, kind, deeply respectful, gentle, and patient. I have never heard him speak ill of anyone, and, believe me, there have been plenty who have deserved it. I often thought to myself what a different experience I might have had in the vet tech program at BYU with a teacher like Dr. T—before I knew that I SHOULD have had him as my teacher. I believe that questionable and trumped up allegations were made against him in an effort to remove him as a "roadblock" to others within the department who had their own vision of where the department should be headed.

The “short” version of the story is that shortly before I enrolled in the vet tech program at BYU, Dr. Thwaits, who was the chairman of the Animal Science department and director of the Veterinary Technology program, was dismissed after several allegations of inappropriate conduct. Dr. T was a tenured professor, and the entire way in which his dismissal was handled is questionable at best, but that is yet another matter. What happened inside the Animal Science department once he was removed is shameful. I started the program the semester after he was put on “administrative leave,” and was impacted for the next four years by the shuffling and politics within a department that was destroying itself from the inside out. If you drive along University Avenue, you may notice that the animal barns are no longer there. There was a full veterinary hospital which has been leveled. The arena and horse barns at the Ellsworth building are now used to store university equipment. As a student in the vet tech program, I found myself the victim of university politics. I was in a program which was unwanted and unsupported by its own college. Supporting courses, facilities, and opportunities crumbled around us as the program which Dr. T had defended was dismantled piece by piece. I didn’t know at the time what part Dr. T had played in building one of the most respected and successful Veterinary Technology programs in the country. But we, as students, were basically treated as backward, unintelligent farmers who didn’t belong at a prestigious university like BYU. I would gladly challenge ANY BYU nursing student to an educational and professional showdown. Because our patients have four legs instead of two and are hairy doesn’t make them any less complicated. In fact, try learning everything from anatomy to dentistry to radiology to nutrition to surgical assisting to pharmacology. Oh, and do it for eight or nine species instead of just one. And one other thing: your patient can’t tell you what’s wrong. I had all the same chemistry and microbiology classes as the pre-med, pre-dental, and nursing students. Yet because my application of that knowledge was to be with dirty, filthy animals, I was unwanted by my own institute of “higher” education. Those from within the department who had unseated Dr. Thwaits succeeded after all in removing any evidence of the Animal Science program is it had been. Their own selfish agenda were installed, at the expense of the education of the students.

The thing is, I was much luckier than 99% of the others in my program. I was still able to learn from Dr. Thwaits. I began working at a clinic during my first semester in the program. And lucky for me, Dr. Thwaits was one of the doctors there. I didn’t know him, hadn’t heard his name on campus, and for nearly four years wouldn’t even know his connection to BYU. But I was blessed to work with him, learn from him, and come to respect him as a veterinarian and person. I know him. I trust him. I came to these conclusions about him without any bias or knowledge about outside matters. They are from observation, interaction, and are based on very high expectations on my part.

In this particular case, I find it difficult to believe that jurors could have been found, especially in this community, who are willing and able to separate The University from The Church. I wish I had been called to sit on that jury. I should be a supporter of my alma mater and my own Department, right? And yet, I was victim to the same politics Dr. T fell victim to. I did have some very good professors, and a few who actually cared about their students and the subject matter. Most of them are also now unemployed or find themselves in “made-up” postitions. But it was a constant battle to maintain our footing, amid a feeling of antagonism and even hate. It is shameful.

I am proud to work with Dr. Thwaits. I am proud to know and support and love him. I will continue to learn from him, and I will continue to entrust my beloved pets to his care. And in the end, I am also proud that my degree from BYU is not in Animal Science at all, and that a now defunct department cannot lay claim to me as one of its own.