Lion’s tale: Pet therapy
Students stressed out from studying for finals had a welcome visitor on May 1: Webster, Dean Ben Rifkin’s 9 1/2-year-old Golden Retriever.
Students stressed out from studying for finals had a welcome visitor on May 1: Webster, Ben Rifkin’s 9 1/2-year-old Golden Retriever. Rifkin, the dean of the School of Culture and Society (which will be renamed the School of Humanities and Social Sciences on July 1), brings his beloved canine to campus twice a year, and in spring semester during exam week, so that students in his school can pet the dog and forget (at least temporarily) their anxieties about final papers and tests. But what if a stressed-out student from one of TCNJ’s other schools needs a little pet therapy? “Webster doesn’t mind if you’re not from Culture and Society,” Rifkin said with a laugh. “Everyone’s welcome. Webster loves the attention—he eats it up.”
Posted on June 6, 2011
