Go beyond Lakamba! There's a new cat in town. His name is LaMarcus. Lovingly selected by students in Side Chat.
Early last week, campus patrons noticed a particularly furry feline friend roaming the campus streets and decided to adopt him as a member of the Southern University family. It all started with a photo of a cat lying on a lawn surrounded by flowers, bathed in sunlight. The post was captioned, “I saw a cat on my way back to my dorm,” along with several heart emojis.
Shortly after it was posted on the anonymous app, students tried to come up with a name for the stray dog, and one unidentified user suggested the name LaMarcus, but that name seems to have stuck.
Wearing a snow-white coat with speckled gray patterns, LaMarcas was friendly with students as he passed by, occasionally patting them and offering them food and water. An editorial meme featuring Southern University's cat wearing a bucket hat garnered nearly 800 upvotes, and as the days passed, LaMarcus' presence grew both on social apps and on campus.
It was clear that students liked this unconventional new student, and given the new popularity of cats on campus, many offered to adopt the cat to ensure it was kept safe from harm. Ta. One anonymous student wrote, “I have to feed the cats on campus…make sure to feed LaMarcus!”
Another student said, “I'm done killing the turtles on campus. I don't know what happened to the dogs. My alligator and raccoon got away. Please don't hurt LaMarcas!”
It became a journey of tracking where Lamarcus was every day. On some days, he could be seen near pedestrian bridges, over the “bump” near local businesses, in residential areas, or next to Mayberry or Dunn's restaurants. Students searched for their favorite unofficial campus mascot and freely created posters of the missing animal, encouraging students to “report in the side chat” if they had any updates. In the end, cats were always spotted momentarily near or around campus, much to the relief of a concerned student body.
The Digest spoke with some of LaMarcus' fans to get their thoughts on LaMarcus' presence around Southern's campus, and sophomore pre-veterinary studies major Camille Baynes said, For example, when I go to class, I will meet Lamarcas by the tree… They even gave him a name! At the moment…he is an integral part of Southern University's campus. ”
Lamarcas may seem harmless, but experts warn to be careful as stray animals can carry bacterial, fungal or viral diseases such as rabies. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), “There are millions of abandoned and feral cats roaming free in the United States. Most of these cats are killed by disease, starvation, extreme weather, trauma, or euthanasia. This results in premature death. The negative effects are not limited to the cats themselves…Cats also pose a threat to public health (AVMA.org).”
This doesn't seem to be the case with LaMarcus, who felt the students had no choice but to accustom the cat with Amari Jackson, a senior therapeutic recreation major, who said, “He's a really gentle cat, and most cats It's not that friendly, so it was just nice to see. In a way, it kind of brought the campus together…”
No matter where he came from, LaMarcus seemed to unite the campus community one step at a time, sparking conversations that brought students together around a common purpose.
