Does the Dog Get a Degree as Well?

June 26 is Take Your Dog to Work Day but every day is Take Your Dog to College at several colleges highlighted by the New York Times on Sunday. One of these is Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania and another is Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri.

At Stephens College, in fact, there are 30 incoming freshmen who are arriving on campus with their dogs--enough to prompt the College to renovate an entire dorm to be "pet friendly." This dorm will feature a "kennel" area on the first floor where students can board their pets when they go to class. This is an important part of the policy--pets are not welcome in classrooms or in common areas. They are strictly dorm dogs.

According to Dianne Lynch, president of Stephens, "It's harder and harder for students to leave home. Bringing this particular piece of home with them may make that separation easier." That said, there are also those worry that having a pet there, may in fact, prevent students from going out and interacting with their peers. Stephens College, which began admitting pets in 2003, does however report that their owners tend to be responsible and very organized.

Personally, I would find it incredibly challenging to go to college with a pet and I am not sure all pets will be able to make the transition to being cooped up without their owners all day, especially if they aren't used to it. There are noise policies in effect at these pet friendly schools that do clearly state that after a three week grace period at the beginning of the semester, if a dog continues to be disruptive, the pet may have to be sent home.

My three would never make it in academia but my son went to Graduate School with a classmate who smuggled in his dog to school every day. Apparently the dog was so well behaved that very few people even knew he was there. But that dog was not left alone in a dorm room; he got to go to class and yes, he even attended graduation.