The Mysterious Case of Boots, the Campus Cat

Graphic by Lily Morgan

As many Jays went home for the summer, with high hopes for the year ahead, one Bluejay stayed behind. Boots the Cat, beloved by many, and dubbed Elmhurst University’s ‘Campus Cat’ ceased his roaming this summer leaving many Jays concerned about his whereabouts and general health.

Junior Andrew Fapp, a student worker with the Office of Admissions says that Boots would be a staple of the campus tours he hosts and that his absence is widely recognized.

“One of the things that always is mentioned is Boots and our campus cat. And now they’re like, ‘when are we gonna see him?’ and it’s been this whole semester. Like, hopefully soon! No one knows where he went. We don’t know if the family’s got him, we don’t know if the campus has kicked him off.”

President Troy VanAken said he heard about Boots’ disappearance on YikYak and says he hopes that he’s okay. “He was a real cool, friendly cat, and I think we all miss him.”

The Leader’s news reporter, Seth Symenski–who previously reported on Boots and his owners at the beginning of last school year–took to the Elmhurst streets to find out more information.

And after doing a little digging, and contacting the family of Boots’ owner, Symenski was able to confirm that after three months of absence, our Campus Cat is alive and well–though his whereabouts are still relatively unknown.

To find out more on what happened to Boots, check out our social pages @elmhurstleader on Instagram and TikTok.