Handsome Dan set to move to Silliman College starting this summer
As a resident fellow, Handsome Dan XIX handler Kassandra Haro ’18 will live in Silliman along with her puppy, Kingman.
Jessie Cheung, Staff Photographer
Silliman students will have a fresh face to look out for in the courtyard this fall: Yale’s newest mascot, Handsome Dan XIX.
In an email sent to the Silliman community on Tuesday evening, Head of College Laurie Santos shared that the puppy, Kingman, and his handler, Kassandra Haro ’18, plan to move to Silliman at some point over the summer. Haro is set to be one of Silliman’s resident fellows starting next school year.
“This is a wonderful way for Handsome Dan to be on campus more often and to make sure that he is an even bigger part of student life in all the colleges,” Santos wrote in her email. “Silliman is proud to offer the space needed and to become a new home for Kassandra and Handsome Dan.”
Each residential college welcomes two resident fellows and their families to live within the college. The resident fellows contribute to life at their college by advising students, serving as additional resources for undergraduates and creating a positive atmosphere.
A spot for a new fellow opened up with the news that Fellow Natalia Córdova Sánchez and her husband Henry Mattingly will be leaving Silliman after this year, as Córdova Sánchez will be heading off to her new role as director of studies at Princeton’s Mathey College.
Although Haro and Kingman will be living in Silliman, they will continue to make appearances in all 14 colleges and around campus. Haro wrote in an email to the News that “the purpose of moving to campus is to make Handsome Dan a more visible and accessible member of the community. Even though we will be living in Silliman, we fully intend to be active members of the Yale community as a whole.”
Santos added in her email that Silliman students should look forward to interaction with the Olde English Bulldogge and new Silliman bulldog swag.
Silliman students also expressed enthusiasm to welcome Kingman into the college community.
“I’m really excited to have Handsome Dan so close by all the time,” Rose Kohler ’24 told the News. “I don’t think there’s anything that playing with a puppy can’t make better.”
As an undergraduate, Haro was in Berkeley College, so moving to Silliman will be a change of scenery from her old residential college as well as her current workplace at the Yale Visitor Center.
“I am absolutely thrilled about being a fellow of Silliman,” Haro said. “I loved [Berkeley] and I am excited to experience yet another residential college.”
Silliman already hosts three dogs. Dean Leanna Barlow owns a Yorkshire Terrier mix named Walter, and Senior Administrative Assistant Elaine Vivero has two large dogs named Morgan and Bella. While Morgan and Bella often visit the Silliman courtyard, Walter will be the only permanent canine resident of the college.
Yale introduced Kingman as the newest Handsome Dan on March 18.
