Playtime

Bob Handelman

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Bob Handelman

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Yale’s central campus covers more than 300 acres, so it seems only right that the university should let a half acre or so go to the dogs. For about 40 years, the Divinity School has hosted the Saint Ronan Street Dog Park, just down the hill from Sterling Divinity Quadrangle. Dogs of all shapes, sizes, and pedigrees get their exercise in the park as their human companions enjoy the benches and conversation. (In the foreground is Claude, a two-year-old Goldendoodle.)

Melissa Wisner ’05 (at right in photo) has been coming to the park with her Aussiedoodle Lucy since she moved to the neighborhood in 2022. “It’s a great way to meet people from the community,” she says. “It can be hard to strike up a conversation with a new person. Here the dogs do away with the need for formal introductions.”