Light & Verity

Courtyard . . . or barnyard?

A petting zoo in Ezra Stiles.

Kenneth Kato

Kenneth Kato

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As term papers and senior essays loomed in mid-April, Ezra Stiles College found a way to relieve student stress. One Sunday afternoon, the social activities committee imported goats, ducklings, chicks, a pony, rabbits, and guinea pigs from a farm in New York for feeding, petting, and admiring. “We saw several hundred people walk through,” writes Stiles master Stephen Pitti ’91 in an e-mail. Pitti says the petting zoo may become an annual tradition. But why stop there? With both Stiles and Morse undergoing renovations with an emphasis on sustainability, a small herd of goats would be great low-carbon mowers. 

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