Lyon Colleges Gets $11M Gift to Establish Shelter Medicine Program at Veterinary School

Melissa Taverner, president of Lyon College (Lyon College)

Lyon College on Tuesday announced it had received an $11 million gift to establish the Katharine Reese Shelter Medicine and Animal Welfare Program at its School of Veterinary Medicine in Cabot.

The gift from the Arkansas Animal Rescue Foundation (AARF) will support an endowed professorship; faculty positions and academic support programs; a student scholarship program; construction of classrooms, laboratories and shelter facilities; and a mobile veterinary unit.

Reese is known for creating a 1,000-acre animal sanctuary in Pope County and for co-founding AARF in 2006 with her brother, William Reese.

“This extraordinary gift creates a ripple effect that will touch every part of the state,” Melissa Taverner, president of Lyon College, said in a news release. “We are proud to honor Katharine Reese’s legacy through a program that will transform the way veterinary medicine serves shelter animals and communities. It also sets the stage for Lyon College to become a national leader in shelter medicine education and advocacy.”

Pending accreditation by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education, the Lyon College School of Veterinary Medicine plans to seat its inaugural class in 2026, with the shelter medicine and animal welfare program launching shortly thereafter.

The private liberal arts college in Batesville recently revealed designs for the veterinary school, which will share a campus with Cabot Animal Support Services. WDD Architects of North Little Rock is the designer and Baldwin & Shell Construction Co. of Little Rock is the construction manager.

Arkansas does not currently have a veterinary college.

“Kathy Reese’s lifelong passion for animals and nature lives on through this program,” Gail Arnold, chair of the AARF board of trustees, said in the release. “Her dream was to make Arkansas a better place for animals — and through this collaboration with Lyon College, we are fulfilling that dream in a very effective and sustainable way.”

Arkansas State University in Jonesboro also plans to open a veterinary school in 2026, pending accreditation.