Once graduate students in UNC Greensboro’s Department of Psychology present their dissertation, they must leave the room while the committee decides whether they successfully defended their research.
Malcolm Mohan ’19, the department administrative assistant, notices how many of them gravitate toward a display in the Eberhart Building hallway while they anxiously wait for the decision.
It’s lined with pictures of their classmates’ and faculty’s pets. They’ll learn that fellow graduate student Lindsay Jarvis has a horse named Toulouse and how her golden retriever Shelbie used to wear bandanas and fetch the mail straight from the mail truck. They can read about how Pickle, one of the cats belonging to Department Head Stuart Marcovitch and Professor Janet Boseovski, has a knack for “reconfiguring computers” and can do a single pull-up with a shower curtain rod.
Bonding over pets
Mohan created the most recent version of the Pet Wall. When he first accepted the position and toured Eberhart, a version of the Pet Wall was already there. Although it was older and out of date, Mohan loved how it contributed to the friendly atmosphere.
“It’s a nice representation of how comfortable and welcoming the department is,” he says.
During the summer of 2022, Mohan, who got his bachelor of fine arts in art with a concentration in new media and design from the College of Visual and Performing Arts, put out the call to current graduate students and faculty to update the board with new pets.
The project gives students a unique insight into their peers and their professors. “One faculty member, Doug Levine, is well-known for his pets,” says Mohan. “He rescues lots of animals and has six or seven pets.”
The Biology Department joins in
The Pet Wall drew an excited response not only from the psychology department, but from the Department of Biology, where graduate student Zachary Bunch was inspired to create one for their wing of the Sullivan Building.
“I knew it would be something people would be excited to turn in and submit,” said Bunch. “Almost everybody owns a pet, whether it’s a fish or a dog.”
Page Turner, the biology department’s administrative support assistant, helped him gather the materials. They completed the Biology Pet Wall in Spring 2023 but added a twist. They deliberately omitted the names of the pets’ owners. This coming year, they will invite department students and faculty to compete by guessing whom each pet belongs to.
“I think that coming out of COVID, people weren’t talking to each other as much as they used to,” says Bunch. “So, this gets them back together. Someone put up a snake. It makes people wonder who in our department owns a snake. It opens up conversation when you’re in the hall.”
Bunch saw the Pet Wall project as a way to boost everyone’s mental health. “We purposely put it in a high-traffic area on the third floor between the biology office and lobby, where all the faculty offices are. Throughout people’s day, they’re going to see it walking back and forth. They can stop, take a breather, and look at the animals.”
A sense of community and belonging
That camaraderie was also a motive behind the psychology department’s Pet Wall. “Faculty have their offices there,” says Mohan. “Students are constantly going back there to meet with faculty; we wanted that area to be attractive.”
It’s one of many things the department has done to bring people together, Mohan says, “We as a staff had meetings throughout the year to design events that bring the faculty and staff and community together. We had snack days. We did a thankfulness day around Thanksgiving with a board and sticky notes for people to write something they were thankful for.”
Bunch is pleased to create something that makes people talk to each other. “It’s good to think about things other than school and your career. Something lighthearted and fun, just to take a break in the day and think about that.”
“It is really important for students to take advantage of opportunities to socialize and build a community,” says Mohan.
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona and Janet Imrick, University Communications
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