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All summer long, Grand View student Bryan Berens was making plans to bring one of his best friends to campus. But when he showed up with Boone, he was told he wouldn’t be able to stay.  

“I went online and tried to find out if there was any information on the emotional support animal (policy), and I talked to some people that had dogs on campus, and they said to get a doctor’s note and to talk to Joy Brandt,” Berens said. 

Not knowing there was a mandatory 60 day notice prior to the start of the fall semester, his dog now has to be kept in temporary housing until the spring semester. 

Over the summer there was a change in the policy for having an emotional support animal on campus. The change had an impact on some students. Berens was just one of the students who found out about the policy change the hard way. 

“It would have been nice if they would have put it on their website or something, you know?” Berens said. “I’ve been dealing with some anxiety, and it (emotional support animal) helps me calm down.” 

A lack of information about the policy has made this semester especially difficult for sophomore Niamke Guilford, who lives far from his family.  

“I had to sit in my room, lonely, calling my dad, listening to him through a device,” Guilford said. “Having something to care for, to nurture, to come home to in my case, after a long day of practice or a long day of school for anybody, any of my peers, would be something magnificent. It’s something that you can look forward to when you’re coming home.” 

GV sophomore Mathew Smith had his paperwork done this summer but never even knew about the new policy that went into place. In fact, he has been breaking the rules the whole time by letting his roommates take his dog out.

“If I have long classes, I could be gone for a couple of hours, and one of my roommates are there, they would take him out,” Smith said. 

Although it is his job to enforce this policy, hall director Eli Nicholes admits the policy could very easily be misunderstood. For example, students on campus have been fined for taking their roommate’s dog out while the owner is in class. The policy currently states: 

• “The Owner is responsible for ensuring that the Assistance Animal is contained, as appropriate, when the Owner is not present during the day while attending classes or other activities. 

“Hall directors didn’t even know anything about the policy change until two weeks before the semester started,” Nicholes said. 

Nicholes said the policy is also being abused by some students. There are some students at Grand View who have been abusing the policy and trying to hand over fake documents so they can have pets on campus.  

“We have the people who need emotional support animals and we have people over here that don’t need emotional support animals, they just want a pet, right? So they are cheating the process,” said Nicholes. 

As to why there wasn’t a mass email sent out on campus is pretty simple. 

“It’s not necessarily our responsibility to tell you, because having an emotional support animal is not an end-all be-all for all things,” said Nicholes.