By Lauren Lane
Staff Writer
When I left my cozy home in shoreline Connecticut three and a half years ago to come to Simmons, I wasn’t going to miss my tight knit community, or my car, or even my family the most. I was going to miss my adorable black cat, Boo.
My furry companions has been a part of my life for eight years, but it feels as if it has been forever. We adopted Boo from a family friend’s farm when I was 13 years old, and she was instantly my best friend. Yes, my best friend, and I’m not afraid or embarassed to admit that.
She got her charming name from the first day we brought her home right around Halloween when she jumped into a plastic trick-or-treating pail and stuck her head out as if she was saying “Boo!”
She has been by my side when I’m sick lying in bed barely knowing my own name, crying from sadness or rejection, laughing mostly from something silly a family member had done, and everything in between. She has watched hundreds of movies on my lap, slept curled into my arms night after night, and is immediately by my side the second I walk in the door. She is my favorite thing in the world, and she makes me feel calm and comfortable no matter where I am or what is going on.
So when I had to say goodbye to her, and every time since then, I question why Simmons wouldn’t allow me to have such a sweet, innocent angel with me in my room if my roommates are fine with it and I clean up after her. I understand some people on campus are allergic to cats, and some might not like cats, and she’s a black cat so some people might be superstitious and be afraid of her. I get all of those reasons, but there are at least ten other colleges and universities across the U.S. who also face those problems, but allow dogs and cats to inhabit their hallways with humans.
Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida boasts one of the oldest pets-in-residence programs in the country. At Eckerd they allow cats, dogs under 40 pounds, rabbits, ducks, and ferrets to live with their students in not just one but five different buildings on campus.
Other campuses that have begun to allow these pet friendly rules are Principia College in Illinois, Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, Stetson University in Florida, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain, California Institute of Technology, State University of New York at Canton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Idaho.
The final college I would like to add the list of these forward thinking schools is Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Simmons shares almost no similarities to Stephens except that it is a fellow all-women’s college. They have a designated pet dorm that will accommidate almost any domesticated pet including both cats and dogs, with the exception of pit bulls, rotweilers, and wolf breeds.
On top of allowing pets to live on campus with their human counterparts, Stephens also offers an on campus doggie-daycare and a program for students to foster pets through a no-kill local animal rescue organization, Columbia Second Chance.
“I have pretty bad social anxiety” said Simmons Sophomore Jessie Kuenzel “and—even though I’ve been here for a while, and am as comfortable as I’ll ever be—there are often times where my symptoms are really acting up and I have a hard time getting through the day. My dog back home is better than an entire bottle of Prozac when I’m struggling. If I could have him here my quality of life would be improved 150 percent.”
Again, there are problems such as not liking pets and being allergic, but there are also solutions.
We have a great cleaning service to take care of our hallways and make sure everything is sanitary, so allergies wouldn’t be as bad of a problem. We have nine dorms that have different floors spanning from health and wellness to sports. One hall could easily be turned into pet central and become the least stressful place on campus.
Many colleges and universities are beginning to open their doors to our friendly furry companions, so why not Simmons? We are a forward and positive thinking college, and having pets on campus is definitely forward thinking; they would make it a more positive and less tense place to live.
“It seems like Simmons is on the forefront of progressive programs in a lot of other areas, and the college definitely prides itself on that fact; pets at school would be beneficial for students and boost the schools reputation as a forward thinking institution, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to do it.” said Kuenzel.
Next time you go home and pet your cat or dog or rabbit, think about how nice it would be to be able to also have this ability at school. And administrators, next time you spend time with your favorite little friend, think about how hard it would be to be away from them for months on end, and I’m sure you would agree that they should be allowed to live on campus.
