This week, “The Etownian” would like to introduce Kookie, a nearly 5-year-old harlequin rabbit.

Kookie lives on campus with first-year social studies education major Adrianna Flory, who absolutely adores him, calling him the “cutest bunny ever” with his patches of black, white, brown and gray fur.

He was adopted by Flory in 2020, on June 13 in nearby York, Pennsylvania.

“We picked him up at some random apartment,” Flory said.

Flory explained that at the time, she really enjoyed listening to music by the K-Pop group BTS. According to her, Kookie’s name is derived from Jungkook, the name of one of the band’s members.

Kookie has a friendly and outgoing personality, though he doesn’t always get along well with men. At times, he can also be quite sassy.

Right now, his favorite toy to play with is a ball of hay shaped like an apple. His favorite food is broccoli.

But, along with broccoli, Kookie tends to eat things he’s not supposed to, occasionally causing some inconvenience.

“He loves eating my phone chargers,” Flory said. “I just had to buy a new one last week.”

Flory also said that Kookie has claimed her dorm room as his own. However, this won’t be the case for much longer, as he was recently introduced to his future roommate—a cat named Challa.

“They will have to coexist in a dorm together soon,” Flory said.

Kookie also acts as Flory’s emotional support animal (ESA).

According to Director of Disability Services Lynne Davies, an ESA is any animal that an individual feels benefits their mental health and helps those with mental illnesses function. They are different from service animals, which are formally trained, registered with the government, and can be taken into any building.

Elizabethtown College is welcoming to ESAs of virtually any variety, as long as the student fills out the proper paperwork through the school’s website. The ESAs on campus include reptiles, rodents, and dogs and cats.

Davies also explained that in the past, Etown had tried designating certain residence halls as “pet-friendly,” in which students could keep any animal without filling out any official paperwork.

“Only about five students brought their pets, though,” she said. “Those that were brought were taken back home by fall break, because it was a lot of work to take care of them. That, to me, says that ESAs are different from regular pets.”

The policy was later changed in 2009. Etown would allow only registered service animals and emotional support animals, with proof from a medical professional that the animal “was necessary for the student to be able to live on campus,” Davies said. They then had to seek approval from a committee.

However, she felt that this policy was restrictive and excluded students without access to proper medical care, so Etown’s policy was revised again. After this change, many more students were able to acquire approval for an ESA. There are now roughly 40 ESAs on campus, according to Davies.