Congresswoman Luna is not your typical student government representative.
She attends almost every SGA meeting and has office hours in the Conoco Student Leadership Center, but one thing makes her unique from the others: she's a dog.
Luna, a six-year-old mutt, is SGA Rep. Gabi Thompson’s emotional support dog, and she accompanies Thompson through her SGA duties. Thompson said Luna has been at Thompson’s side as an emotional support animal since the fall of 2017, helping her to stay on track with her mental health.
Thompson said she first got Luna when she was 16 years old. Her family had adopted a pregnant dog from a shelter so she would not be euthanized, and when the mother dog gave birth, Luna was “instantly” Thompson’s.
“I’ve had her with me all the time ever since,” Thompson said.
However, when Thompson initially came to OU, she moved to an apartment that was not pet-friendly — meaning she had to leave Luna behind.
“College is hard,” Thompson said. “There’s definitely some anxiety and depression and stuff that kind of comes with it.”
After her first semester, she talked to one of her doctors, who gave her a note saying an emotional support dog would help her, giving Thompson permission to bring Luna to OU.
Thompson said her first fall at OU was difficult for her, and that semester Luna came to all of her classes, staying under her desk and accompanying her throughout the day. Thompson emailed her professors ahead of time to ask if it was okay to bring Luna to class as an emotional support dog, and they all said it was fine.
“I would go introduce her to the professor at the end of class and they were always like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even realize you had brought her today,’” Thompson said. “She’s a good dog.”
Although Thompson said having her emotional support animal around has been fairly easy, there are some limits, since Luna is not a service animal.
Thompson said sometimes when they are working late in the Union, security will tell her she cannot have Luna there, so she explains that she is an emotional support dog and they typically leave her alone. However, Luna isn't necessarily allowed everywhere.
“That’s the hardest part about having an emotional support animal ... because they don’t technically have to be allowed everywhere because they’re not service animals,” Thompson said. “People don’t want to negatively impact people who have legitimate service animals by having a rowdy emotional support animal. So I think training is really the key.”
Luna’s needs help Thompson to not fall into depressive habits, and she said just the act of walking Luna helps her not “fall into that depression routine.”
“It is very easy to fall into like a ‘Oh, I’m gonna sleep through this first class ... I’m gonna just stay in my apartment all day, I’m not gonna leave,’” Thompson said. “Having her … you’re responsible for something other than yourself.”
Mackenzie Cordova, vice chair of the Undergraduate Student Congress, said Luna is very attentive to Gabi’s emotions and stress level.
“She can just kind of tell when Gabi’s upset,” Cordova said. “She just is there to comfort her, she knows better than some of us even when Gabi’s upset, and she just runs up and gives her kisses on the face and usually that it makes it better — Gabi smiles, or she’ll hug Luna, it’s really cute.”
Thompson said now she usually just brings Luna on Tuesdays and Thursdays when she has SGA meetings and office hours.
“Things are a lot better now,” Thompson said. “I don’t really have to take her everywhere with me, but she does come with me to congress, she comes with me when I just work.”
Thompson said although Luna is very well-trained, emotional support animals do not necessarily provide a service — they’re more like companions.
“She helps because she’s very bonded to me,” Thompson said. “She is very social, so she’s got a lot of friends in congress, so it’s easy to meet new people and talk to people because everyone loves a good dog.”
Thompson said she thinks having Luna around has been a positive influence, with “only good things,” coming from having her around.
“I think that having a dog around helps build relationships with people,” Thompson said. “I think that OU could be a more dog-friendly campus, and that’s something I’m trying to do in congress is to research other schools and how they become more dog-friendly.”
Thompson said Luna has become a mascot for SGA, “pretty instantly” getting the title "Congresswoman Luna." Luna even has her own Twitter account — @IsLunaInSGA — that Thompson tweets from whenever they are in the SGA office.
“I was the Problems and Projects chair of congress at the time, and so I would give my committee reports holding her,” Thompson said. “Everyone was pretty instantly so excited to see her — she would just kind of get passed around the room, and she was happy to be in whoever’s lap she was in.”
Cordova said Luna also helps to comfort almost anyone she runs into in the SGA office or during meetings.
“She’s definitely kind of like all of our emotional support dog,” Cordova said. “She loves everyone, so she will just give you kisses no matter who you are. She’s super excited to play with you no matter who you are.”
Chair of the Undergraduate Student Congress Tom Cassidy has gotten to know Thompson and Luna over the past year, and his favorite memory with them is when they came to a congress meeting on Halloween last year dressed up together — with Thompson as Ariel and Luna as Sebastian.
“The times I’ve interacted with Luna around campus, overwhelmingly people have been understanding of the fact that she’s there to help Gabi,” Cassidy said. “We can be in the SGA offices in the Union, we can walk certain places on campus, and people are (respectful) of that.”
Thompson said Luna also inspired an SGA campaign called "Problems, Projects and Puppies." The campaign, which was aimed to get people to interact with the congress more, had the Bella Foundation SPCA to bring service and support animals to campus while congress members talk to constituents.
“I noticed pretty quickly that (Luna) is something that gives almost anyone a big grin on their face,” Thompson said. “I was like, ‘Well, almost anyone will come talk to me when I have a dog.’”
Cordova said she thinks Luna and Gabi share a unique bond.
“They’re a cute pair,” Cordova said. “Luna loves Gabi and it’s pretty obvious, and Gabi really connects with Luna. I think it’s a special relationship when your animal can see when you need things and then you can do the same thing for them.”
