He and his new sidekick, Jack, help prospective students relax enough to approach Lalonde with questions or strike up a conversation with one another. Even the shyest students have trouble resisting his toothy grin and willingness to be petted. “There are a lot of people that come to the front desk asking for them, but I don’t bring them every day because I have to get work done!” Lalonde laughed.īaxter may be the ultimate icebreaker.

Prospective students and parents expect to see him at Days on the Lawn, sporting his signature U.Va. Through his many appearances on the blog and Lalonde’s social media accounts, Baxter has become something of an ambassador for the Admission Office. “People really responded to it and he’s been appearing ever since.” So I put that up on the blog to show our northern students that they probably wouldn’t be all that impressed by our winter,” Lalonde said. “One day, someone asked me about the weather here and I had a picture of Baxter in his first snowfall and he looked very unimpressed by it. Baxter first rose to Internet stardom in 2008 when his owner, Associate Dean of Admissions Jeannine Lalonde, posted his picture on her popular “Notes from Peabody” blog aimed at prospective students. Today the mantle of unofficial mascot has been passed on to the lovable “CavDog,” Baxter, and his new cavalier-in-training “CavPup,” Jack. Jeanine Lalonde, known on social media as Dean J, sits with her popular pooches Baxter and Jack.

Sweet j body cavalier