Published: 21 Mar 2018 | Last Updated: 10 Aug 2023 11:00:13

Harriette (Hatti) Smart, a student of the Royal Veterinary College, has been nationally recognised for her tireless work in promoting inclusion, equality and diversity by winning the NUS LGBT+ Higher Education Award. Hatti has also been nominated for the ‘Positive Role Model Award – LGBT’ awarded at the National Diversity Awards later this year. 

Hatti has been the Co-chair of National Student Pride for the past three years, as well as the RVC’s Student Union Welfare Officer since 2016. In this role, she raised over £2,600 for the Albert Kennedy Trust, a voluntary organisation who work to improve the lives of LGBT young people affected by homelessness, through arranging a range of events such as a Sponsored Sleepout that was organised last month and took place in the Royal Veterinary College’s Camden Campus.

The National Diversity Group, who recognise charities, role models and community heroes annually, have also nominated Hatti for one of the most prestigious awards – The Positive Role Model Award (LGBT). Voting for this award closes on 1st June 2018 and you can support Hatti by visiting this link and casting your vote for her. The Royal Veterinary College is extremely proud of its mission to promote equality among all groups.  Hatti Smart, The Royal Veterinary College’s Student Union Welfare Officer said, “It’s an absolute honour to win the NUS LGBT+ Higher Education Award, I want to thank everyone who has been involved in the fund-raising projects we have been working on and it’s wonderful to have been recognised and awarded from outside organisations for our hard work.”

ENDS Notes to Editors

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Uche Graves or Zoe Chadwick Press Line: 0800 368 9520  

About the Vet Compass™ Vet Compass™ is a research programme conducted by the Royal Veterinary College which shares and analyses veterinary clinical information to understand the disorders and improve the welfare of companion animals.  

About the Royal Veterinary College

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a constituent College of the University of London. 
• The RVC offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences, being ranked in the top 10 universities nationally for biosciences degrees.  
• It is currently the only veterinary school in the world to hold full accreditation from AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC. In 2017, the RVC received a Gold award from the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) – the highest rating a university can receive. 
• A research-led institution, in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014) the RVC maintained its position as the top HEFCE funded veterinary focused research institution. 
• The RVC ranked as the top vet school in the Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science unit of the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with 55% of academics producing world-class and internationally excellent research. 
• The RVC also provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals; the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital in central London, the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (Europe's largest small animal referral centre), the Equine Referral Hospital, and the Farm Animal Clinical Centre located at the Hertfordshire campus.