A Marriage Made in Vet School

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we share the story of love and romance between two alumni who met as classmates at the college and left as engaged sweethearts. Dr. Bart Kite (DVM ’07), Chief of Staff at the Banfield Hospital in Chesapeake, Va., and Dr. Stacie Crain Kite (DVM '07), Chief of Staff at the Banfield Hospital in Virginia Beach, Va., were married a year after graduating from the college.

During the middle of sophomore year (Winter 2004), I began a relationship with one of my fellow classmates, Stacie Crain. Our first official date was on Valentine’s Day 2005 — we decided on this date after I attended a party she hosted where I had to leave early to assist in a calving in Large Animal Clinical Sciences.

Our relationship continued throughout the remainder of that year and the next, and as one can imagine it was long-distance at times during our senior year.

I decided after speaking with her closest friend that I wanted to propose before the end of our senior year, and ultimately decided to pop the question during the last day of senior rotations before graduation. To keep it a surprise required having several people in on the plan including the vet school receptionist, the student on emergency duty, and one of the students on her same rotation.

Ultimately, I simulated a neuro emergency, calling her into school on a Sunday afternoon. Instead of a dachshund prepping for surgery, Stacie found me in the hospital's memorial garden with candles, flowers, and a ring. Fortunately, she said "Yes."

We were married in May 2008 in Virginia Beach with many fellow Vet Med alumni in attendance. We currently live in Chesapeake, Va. with our 2-year-old son Preston, two English Springer Spaniels, and two cats.

All photos courtesy of Bart and Stacie Kite.