Nico Rivera
Features Editor
On Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Wooster community came together to enjoy the Dogs and Donuts event on the academic quad. Faculty, staff, students and community members brought their dogs out to enjoy the sunny fall afternoon, along with donuts and coffee provided by Lerch’s Donuts, a local donut shop in Wooster. Various academic departments also provided a variety of snacks, Halloween candy and lawn games.
While the Dogs on the Lawn event held during the spring has been organized for several years now, Dogs and Donuts is a recent initiative that a number of the academic departments undertook. Matthew Broda, department chair and associate professor of education, explained how the Dogs on the Lawn event developed among department staff during the COVID-19 pandemic to bring the campus community together: “We thought, ‘let’s do a cookout where we can be outside, everybody can be distant’… it was just nice for faculty and staff to hang out with students and not have it be about class or anything. And the students loved it; they got to meet a lot of students they hadn’t met before that were in the same buildings.”
With the popularity of Dogs on the Lawn, demand for another event increased among student attendees. Ryan Ozar, assistant professor of education, spoke about how the departments worked together to organize the new event: “Dogs on the Lawn has been super popular in the spring—so popular we had a lot of requests, and we thought we should try to capture some of that enthusiasm and try to do something that hits some autumnal vibes and get out here while the leaves are coming down. We thought donuts would attract people, and the dogs wanted to return … so a lot of the departments on the quad down here are participating, trying to throw in different items, cider, snacks, coloring, just to make it more of an event with variety.”
This Dogs and Donuts event was the first time the College had worked with Lerch’s Donuts to provide food and drinks. Gretchen Tefs, a visiting instructor of education, explained that the education department helped organize the donut truck: “In the fall, we figured that we should do donuts and cider and fall things … Lerch’s is kind of the thing in Wayne County, so that’s what we brought.” The event captured the fall mood as community members mingled and enjoyed donuts, coffee, apple cider and Halloween candy among the wandering pets and lawn games.
Emily Armour, an educational technologist for the College, brought her miniature poodle terrier mutt, Pepper. “I bring her each year, and we have a great time … we just love inviting students to come and see pets, so many of them love seeing them, especially when they’re away from home.”
Megan Wereley, associate professor of education, brought her eight-year-old chihuahua, Churro, to enjoy the day. “She comes to all Dogs on the Lawn events; she likes to come out and see all the college students … I think she misses the hot dogs though.”