University gives resident cat an honorary doctorate
A university in the US has handed out an honorary doctorate to a surprising recipient: the resident campus cat.
For four years, Max the cat has been a respected member of the Vermont State University, putting a smile on students' faces through his friendly demeanour.
When Max's owner Ashley was contacted by the school and told their plans to give Max the special honour, she "thought they were crazy", but it brought a big smile to her face.
"We live on the main entrance to campus and when my daughter started attending as a junior, she started seeing everyone and how they kind of doted on Max," Ashley told Today Extra.
"So we started an Instagram page that we keep updated with some of the photos and then I started getting tracked down by people on campus saying, 'Oh Max has been on the Dean's desk and he's been on the desk of the head of graduate studies, and he just kind of makes himself at home.'"
Ashely said that Max's calming presence has helped many students who are stressed about their studies, or those who are feeling homesick.
"They were just talking about how he was so helpful during finals week because everybody was picking him up and doing selfies with him and he was making everyone calmer," she said.
"There's a real sense of community because I heard he was getting attacked by feral cats if he was on campus after 5pm, so I put up some posters and asked the students to give me a call or shoot me a text if they see him out after dark and they started arriving on our doorstep with him saying 'Hey, we brought Max home.'"
Max was bestowed the honorary degree of "doctor of litter-ature", although will not be attending the next graduation ceremony.
Image credits: Today Extra / Vermont State University