(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Max Dow once lived on the streets of Fair Haven, Vt., but he receives an honorary doctorate this morning at Vermont State University Castleton. Max may have some faults, but he's really a pussy cat, a tabby. And as Vermont Public Radio reports, the once-feral kitten taken in by a woman named Ashley Dow has become part of university life over the past five years. He's posed for photography classes. He's hitched rides on backpacks and been a general source of campus cheer. Ashley Dow told Vermont Public Radio she's encouraged students to bring Max home if they see him out after 5, and students did actually bring him home, she says. I'll get text messages from random students. It's like, he's OK. He's up by the greenhouse.
A school announcement on Instagram says Max's Doctor of Litter-ature degree comes, quote, "complete with all catnip perks, scratching post privileges and litter box responsibilities that come with it." But don't invite Max to a kegger to celebrate this weekend. He's still not 21. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
