This gift is bound to draw paw-sitive feedback
Brad and Karen Shuman directed their contribution to the SDSU therapy dog program, where Luna soon will have a partner.
Here are just a few things Brad Shuman likes about dogs, and how this affection influenced his decision to give back to one of San Diego State University’s most pup-ular student programs with a generous pledge.
“Unconditional, very loyal, and always wanting to do and enjoy the smallest things imaginable in life,” said Shuman (‘79), whose goldendoodle Carmel turns 56 (in dog years) this month. “Like get your leash, go to the park, and take you on a walk. The fun and the playfulness.”
“Dogs are friends.”
Yes they are. And accordingly, Shuman and his wife, Karen Shuman, signed a three-year pledge to support SDSU’s therapy dog services, recognizing the increasing importance of addressing mental well-being on college campuses.
At SDSU, it’s part of Counseling & Psychological Services. Luna, the certified and trained spaniel/poodle mix there, is on hand throughout the regular school year to reduce stress, anxiety and loneliness among students just by hanging out with them. Luna works in drop-by visits and one-on-one sessions at Calpulli Center and in weekly fresh-air appearances outdoors where she invariably becomes a magnet for attention.
Jen Rikard, interim assistant vice president for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, said an on-campus dog sometimes just helps students who miss one of their own who’s back home. But no one is kidding with the word “therapy.”
In the presence of a dog, Rikard said, “there’s data to say that blood pressure decreases, the feel-good hormone increases, concentration improves, and these effects can last 12 hours or so. So when we have a therapy dog in the library at finals time, they could interact with the dog, and then go to their finals and maybe perform better.”
Luna, who arrived at SDSU in 2021, is about to be joined by two new co-workers, including Pogi, a goldendoodle with a rare black and white coat so exceptionally floofy that upon first meeting, it is not entirely clear where his eyes are.
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Rikard said the outside funding “adds great value to the counseling center and to the university.
“One of the main goals a few years ago was to destigmatize the counseling center and provide an access that’s not traditional therapy-based,” she said. “It has opened it up to a lot more students.”
Or as Shuman puts it: “Dogs bring joy, and having dogs around for many years to come, it’s going to continue to bring joy to the university and the kids.”
Shuman graduated with a degree in marketing and now promotes and markets logo-emblazoned products from apparel to giveaways. An Aztec for Life, he showed up for an interview at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center wearing an SDSU polo shirt and black, custom-made track shoes with AZTECS imprinted on the toe box and an SD interlock on the side.
After graduating Shuman stayed involved in athletics and other university matters. Two of the couple’s children are SDSU graduates and their third expects to finish next year; Shuman has served on the university’s parent board for five years.
Learn more about how you can support SDSU’s Therapy Dog program. Contact Jen Stanley, [email protected], 415-722-6786.
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