BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Ask any African-American veterinarian — anywhere in the country — where they attended veterinary school.

Odds are they’ll name a school in Alabama.

“If you see a Black face, that person probably came from Tuskegee University,” says Dr. Ruby Perry, associate dean at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

More than 70 percent of Black veterinarians in the United States are Tuskegee grads, Perry says, and the school continues to train 50 to 60 percent.

You won’t, however, stand out on campus if you're not one of the 120 Black veterinary students.

“We wouldn’t be truthful to the ideals of diversity if we only had African-American students,” Perry says.

Haylie Hendershot, for example, is one of 100 Whites on campus.

“Haylie would not feel comfortable if it was ‘just her,’” Perry says. “She needs to come in and see someone like her.”

Hendershot, who is president of the class of 2011, concurs: “I probably would not have come here if they didn't have another White student.”

She’s glad they do, she says, because she’s glad she came.

“Never have I felt uncomfortable being a White student at a historically Black college,” Hendershot says. “Everybody has embraced me.”

You’ll find three Asian students on campus, too, as well as three from India and 18 Hispanics. School officials estimate that 10 percent of the country’s Hispanic veterinarians are Tuskegee grads.

It’s no accident, either, that they were there, or are there.

School officials actively encourage a mix of students, Perry says.

They no longer have a Native American student on campus, for example, so they’re working with a Native American graduate to help recruit.

Tuskegee grads nationwide encourage students to apply to their alma mater, Perry says.

For example, Stefanie Clay left the Midwest to attend.

“My mentor at the University of Minnesota, an alum at Tuskegee, spoke to me about the school,” says Clay, class of 2010 and student body president of the vet school.