Friendly, fluffy faces came out to welcome new and returning students Tuesday, and no, it wasn’t Rufus. Rather, South Beach welcomed students to a free petting zoo featuring alpacas, goats, ducks, rabbits and more.
The petting zoo, which took place from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday, featured several dozen animals of varying breeds. This event was just one of several planned by the University Programming Council, or UPC, for Welcome Week. The council will be hosting a comedy show featuring Luke Null Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Baker Theater and a drag show starring Silky Nutmeg Ganache Friday at 7 p.m. in Baker Ballroom.
Bozeman Koonce, a junior studying geography and the vice chair of creative events for UPC, said the petting zoo returned this year after a successful debut during last fall’s Welcome Week.
“I really liked the fact that it's kind of a low-key event,” Koonce said. “It's not an event that you have to sit and focus on. Maybe you're coming off a class, maybe you've just been overwhelmed by your Tuesday syllabus week, and you just need some time to think to yourself and be like, ‘It's gonna be alright, I'm going to go down and pet an alpaca or a duck.’”
Koonce’s favorite animal at the petting zoo was an alpaca — a fan favorite. Constantine Nonno, a freshman studying biochem pre-med, also enjoyed the South American mammals.
“I love the alpacas,” Nanno said. “They're my favorite, they're super fluffy. I think (the petting zoo) is just cool. I like seeing everybody come out and all the animals are really fun.”
Bailey Smith, a freshman studying biological sciences, enjoyed the petting zoo with several other students and said she particularly liked the animals she hadn’t seen before.
“I like the donkey and the fluffy chickens,” Smith said. “I've never seen fluffy chickens before. There's goats, it’s something interesting, especially the fluffy chickens. Like, it (the chicken) is so off-putting but in a good way. It's nice, I like it.”
Smith has attended other Welcome Week events to get involved on campus, including an event promoting Greek life. She said she is getting accustomed to life at Ohio University, although she said some of the walks between classes were long.
“The campus is nice, I like it,” Smith said, “It's just long walks and if you're allergic to pollen, take an allergy pill.”
Nanno said he has also attended several other Welcome Week activities so far, including the Party at Ping last Saturday at 6 p.m., which he said have helped him assimilate to campus life.
“I like campus a lot,” Nanno said. “I always thought it was beautiful. And I just like the whole community aspect of it, everybody's always doing something together. I think it's really nice.”
For students looking to participate in Welcome Week, Koonce recommended attending an upcoming UPC event.
“I, myself, have never been to a drag show,” Koonce said. “And a lot of people in UPC have said that it is a very fun and interesting experience. And since, I've never been to one I'm like, ‘Why not just take the time since I'm in the club to go to the event that I'm supposed to be at in the first place.’ So I'm excited to see how that goes.”
Koonce said UPC has free events for students throughout the year and encourages those who are interested to keep up with their schedule via UPC’s Instagram. The alpacas and goats seconded Koonce’s advice, although the fluffy chickens declined to comment.
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