Main lawn turns into dog park for Belmont Law event

The dog days of spring have arrived, but Belmont Law has the solution.

Students put down their books and picked up some adoptable puppies Thursday morning for a well-deserved study break from their upcoming finals.

The event took place on the main lawn and was sponsored by the Nashville Humane Association, one of the oldest nonprofits in Nashville. Brooke Huppenthal, president of the Student Bar Association, coordinated the event in conjunction with Belmont Law.

Approaching the end of her final year of law school, Huppenthal is no stranger to the stressful challenges it poses and the daunting finals that await students.

“We really wanted to try to set something up just to get a total break from it,” said Huppenthal.

And as May signals graduation and Mental Health Awareness month, the timing could not have been better.

Courtney Henry — a Belmont law student in her final year — said events like this are vital to mental health.

“I think that having opportunities where you have time to take a break and to breathe before jumping into finals is so vital to mental health and to the wellness of the Belmont community at large,” she said.

“It’s a place where you can just put aside everything that you have going on and just focus on cute little doggos and building a sense of community.”

Adopting a puppy can be tempting with the bar exam looming ahead and, after that, the reality of being a lawyer.

“Or I’ll just be a puppy mom,” said Henry.

NHA brought three puppies from the same spring litter: friendly Daffodil, snuggly Sprout and floofy Magnolia.

Daffodil is available for adoption on Friday and Magnolia and Sprout will be available next week, when the popular pups will get to meet with the Nashville Predators .

Established in 1946, NHA adopts out around 4,000 animals per year.

“We do events around the city to bring awareness to our mission and to our cause and also to just get some of our sweet babies in people’s hands so that we can find them really great homes,” said events and community outreach coordinator Becca “B” Messner.

If even just for a moment, students left the law library and stepped out onto the sunny lawn to play with Daffodil, Sprout and Magnolia — the trio they never knew they needed.

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This article was written by Jaymey Hedberg and Nico Ingram

Photos by Jaymey Hedberg and Nico Ingram