Service animals are a critical part of some individuals’ lives. These animals are always on alert to provide the safest environment for their owners. With the steps that UO is taking to increase inclusivity on campus, UO should consider creating a group intended to help students with service animals connect with one another. The feeling of community should be felt by all students, and this would provide that feeling to another group of students.
UO has been doing well with expanding their inclusivity. In early February, UO alumni discussed fostering Black sororities and fraternities. UO has moved its African American Lectures Series from in-person to virtual so students and faculty can still attend. There are programs for veterans, the LGBTQ community and intercultural mentoring. But, there’s always room for more groups that welcome different groups of students.
UO allows certain service animals on campus and in the dorms under the Americans with Disabilities Act. These include service dogs and, in some cases, miniature horses.
According to the ADA, service animals help with many tasks, including assisting an individual during a seizure, reminding an individual to take medication and preventing their owners with psychiatric and neurological disabilities from making impulsive or destructive behaviors.
In an environment as large and crowded as UO’s campus can be, anxiety and stress aren’t uncommon feelings. But these feelings can magnify when they’re matched with a medical condition. These animals are providing a necessary sense of safety and protection.
Going to college can be especially challenging. It’s a major life change that requires students to leave their homes and, sometimes, their home state. Some come to college with a group of friends, some with just one or two and others arrive knowing no one. Though, no matter how many people you know, walking into the next stage of your life can be beyond stressful. We all want to feel like we belong — like we made the right decision.
UO recognizes how difficult living in a new environment can be. UO’s first-year interest groups, or FIGs, were made to combat loneliness and increase interconnectivity between first-year students. FIG themes include: art of storytelling, becoming human, breaking barriers, culture in review, going green, path to global citizenship and science and society. Each theme includes courses students can take together. The courses range from edible activism to remixing media, critiquing culture to human hierarchies. By bringing together students with the same interests, FIGs create a community that creates a sense of belonging.
If UO can intentionally create a welcoming community for students interested in storytelling or environmental activism, why not students who use service animals as well? And, of course these students could still join a FIG about storytelling or environmental activism, but creating a new group would provide more opportunities for service animal handlers to connect.
So why not create a group specifically for students who need service animals? These animals play a crucial role in their owners’ lives. Students who need service animals should feel comfortable and welcomed in the UO community. Having a group for these students would benefit their time here, as well as providing some comfort in a community with students who may share similar experiences.
It can be a safe place where students can discuss their experiences and how their service animal helps them. A place where they feel comfortable letting loose and knowing that they’re talking to other students who can relate on a personal level.
College is supposed to be the place where students get an education and start their careers. But it’s also a place that shapes us as students and as individuals. When there’s a lack of belonging, depression and anxiety shoot up. Our ability to connect with others suffers. And it’s harder to want to reach out when individuals feel uncomfortable or singled-out in their environment. I personally don’t need a service animal, but I still want inclusivity to reach every student — because all students deserve to feel like they belong.
