University students mourned the life of the community groundhog on Tuesday night with signs. Photo courtesy of @rhodygroundhogs.
On Tuesday students at the University of Rhode Island organized a memorial service for a groundhog who frequented the balcony buildings east of Meade Stadium.
Last week, students Ana Avjian and Freya Badger created the Instagram page @rhodygroundhogs, encouraging students to submit pictures and videos of their interactions with the groundhogs of URI.
One groundhog in particular took the spotlight. He was given the name Greg by students living in the dorms commonly referred to as “the sophomore slums.” Others nicknamed this groundhog “Bernie” or simply “Terrace.”
Avjian said that she first met Greg during the 2020-2021 school year and was excited to see him back on campus this fall.
“Last year, I used to see [Greg] all the time, and he was so friendly,” she said. “When he showed back up, I couldn’t contain my happiness, and just needed to create an account so that everyone could see him and his other groundhog friends.”
But the Instagram page was active for less than a day before tragedy struck. Greg was found dead on Tuesday morning near Burnside Hall after allegedly being struck by a vehicle.
The initial news was reported on YikYak, an anonymous discussion board for people in the same areas. Immediately, Avjian and Badger began to arrange a gathering to commemorate the groundhog.
Throughout the evening, hundreds of students paid their respects at the tree near Aldrich Hall and Burnside Hall.
Nick Alibozek, a freshman at URI, heard about Greg through word of mouth and attended the service with friends to remember the groundhog’s impact.
“He was such a big part of our community, and everybody loved him so much,” Alibozek said. “It’s so heartbreaking to hear that he passed.”
Students left candles, pictures and notes at the memorial for Greg. Leaders of the event held moments of silence and broke into song in his memory. An acapella rendition of “Amazing Grace” was sung after one student spoke about Greg’s impact on the community.
Many freshmen recounted the memories that they made with the groundhog over the first few weeks of living on campus. Greg was known for approaching students in search of snacks, his favorites being waffles and watermelon.
Freshman Mackenzie Fitzgerald said that the community will forever mourn the loss of Greg.
“He’s like our second mascot here at URI,” she said. “We all loved him so much, and we want to keep the rest of the groundhogs safe.”
Since the service, @rhodygroundhogs posted a video capturing a group dismantling the memorial against the wishes of event organizers. Students are encouraged to re-contribute to the site if they wish.
Delaney Mcgunnigle spoke about her contributions to the service and how she will work to protect other groundhogs from reckless drivers.
“This is horrible,” Mcgunnigle said. “I brought flowers, a corndog and his favorite drink. We need to find whoever killed him and make sure it doesn’t happen again. The other groundhogs must be so scared.”
To stay up-to-date with groundhogs on campus, students can follow @rhodygroundhogs on Instagram. If you see a groundhog on campus, make sure to submit a picture or video to the account, and tell others to drive safely around their habitats.