Keene State College’s Office of Student Involvement held their first monthly Monadnock Therapy Pets event on Thursday, Sept 26.
This event started being hosted in the student center last year and the tradition is carrying over into the current academic year.
Director of Student Involvement Jessica Gagne Cloutier commented on the evolution of the event.
“Student Involvement started bringing Monadnock Therapy Pets last year,” said Gagne Cloutier. “Prior to that, they used to visit our residence halls through a program called Paws To Play which kind of took a little hiatus during COVID. And we saw an opportunity to make sure that they were still here on campus and students were benefiting from their presence.” “We’ve had about a student a minute,” continued Gagne Cloutier. “Usually anywhere between 70 and a hundred students every time we do this.” The event was held in the student center’s West Dining Room. Students were asked to sign a digital waiver and check in with Student Involvement staff before they were able to go into the room and interact with the dogs. The dog’s owners expressed their own enjoyment of the event.
“We’ve visited Symonds Elementary School, we’ve been to Keene State several times, we’ve visited some elderly housing,” said Gia Morroni, who was with her dog named Roxie. “We definitely want to bring a smile to people’s faces and bring comfort to others and Roxie really enjoys it as well.”
“We do a lot of this, and Keene State’s a pretty good place to walk,” said Timothy Coronas, who had brought his dog Kelly. “So Kelly … she’s here as an official therapy dog but the other time she’s kind of off-duty she can still say hi to people.”
“Folks at Keene State could probably attest to the popularity of the event better than I can,” continued Coronas. “But I know this is one of Kelly’s favorite places in the world.”
Gagne Cloutier spoke about what she hopes students can get out of these events.
“This is our first visit by [Monadnock Therapy Pets],” said Gagne Cloutier. “They’ll be in the Student Center during the 11 to 1 period, giving students an opportunity to maybe lessen their stress, visit with dogs if they’re missing their own, and just otherwise enjoy the comfort and the love.”
There were plenty of students who attended the event and they attested to its effectiveness in reducing stress.
“I saw the flier for it and I thought it was cool,” said first-year Eden Bernazzani. “It genuinely is very calming to me so … I really do enjoy this, I think it’s very fun. It’s a good little break.”
“I hope to come to all of these events because I really miss my dog from home,” said junior Erin Ciempa. “So these are really nice events to come see the dogs and get the love that they offer.”
Orion Corbin can be contacted at
ocorbin@kscequinox.com
