Brutus is Ferris State University’s big dawg on campus, but this year, the mascot will be joined by some actual little dogs — and cats, among other pets.
The Michigan-based university has rolled out a new program that will allow pets on one floor of Cramer Hall on the Big Rapids campus. The initiative is part of an effort by the school to appeal to students who don’t want to leave their furry partners behind. Cramer Hall is the tallest hall on campus and features suite-style rooms with a shared living space between the rooms.
Most colleges prohibit pets in dorms. Some allow aquariums, and a few — including Eckerd College in Florida, which holds an annual pet graduation — have been allowing students to bring furry and feathered friends as an enrollment privilege, especially as recruitment becomes increasingly competitive.
Ferris State, which started classes Monday, said pets help students who may be struggling with depression, anxiety and homesickness.
“Students may really miss that dog they’ve had since they were a little kid or that cat they got when they were 12 years old,” said Lisa Ortiz, Ferris State’s director of Housing and Residential Life. “Sometimes the answer is to bring a little bit of home with them.”
The announcement was accompanied by photos of Ferris State student Alando Steele, who is cradling his small puppy Emi, wearing a light grey Ferris State Bulldogs hoodie. However, Steele isn’t part of the program. He was only helping illustrate it.
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Brutus gets some friends
Ferris State is named after Woodbridge Ferris, who founded the school in 1884. Ferris later became governor and then a U.S. Senator. The school got its nickname, the Bulldogs, from a sports writer who said the school basketball team’s defense was “hanging on like a bulldog.”
Before that, the sports team was called the Ferrisites, which sounded too much like parasites. So, the story goes: The basketball coach liked the sports writer’s description so much that he started calling his team the Bulldogs, and by 1931, the school made it official. The mascot is Brutus the Bulldog.
Only one pet
Under the school’s new pet rules, each student is permitted only one pet.
Students also must have had their pets for at least six months, so they can’t go out and get a new puppy — or kitten. And they are required to have proof of shots and spaying and neutering. They also pay an additional $250 for the privilege of having their pets on campus.
The university, which enrolls about 10,000, added that there is research to show some of the benefits of pet ownership, including companionship, better health and motivation to stay physically fit.
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Ortiz also told CNN that the decision was also driven by students who wanted to bring their best animal friends to school with them. She added that the university picked Cramer Hall because the flooring is vinyl, which is easier to clean than carpet.
More pet-friendly dorms
In 2018, USA Today reported that only about three dozen colleges nationally permitted pets in dorms. More, the report said, were considering it.
Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, claims it was one of the first schools to offer housing to students and their pets. A private liberal arts college, it opened dorms to students’ pets in the early 1970s. Eckerd now even offers its students pet graduations.
Overall, Eckerd said, more than 70 student pets, including dogs, cats, lizards and rats, participated in a ceremony that awarded them special certificates. Online, the college has posted a gallery of photos of graduating student pets from earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Stephens College — a private women’s college in Columbia, Missouri — bills itself as the “pet-friendliest campus on the planet,” touting that it has been “welcoming cats, dogs, birds and other pet friends to campus” for more than a decade.
“Here, we treat pets like royalty,” Stephens College said online. “Come to the President’s office and pick up a doggy treat! Think you have the cutest cat ever? Dress him up and enter our pet costume parade during Halloween! Stephens is your home-away-from-home, and that means your pet is welcome here, too.”
In a study published in 2021 in the Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs, researchers at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, concluded pet ownership could lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And, the Ferris State said, students who have pets in their rooms report decreased feelings of isolation.
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Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com
