Unleashing Bean’s Persona

The Interns Shaping BU’s Biggest Star

by William White

by Anna Wojeck

Have you ever wondered who takes over for Bean when her paws get tired? Well, meet the Boston University Campus Planning and Operations interns: Madina Khasanboeva, Amanda Brucculeri and myself. 

What started as a job interview focused on BU’s facilities quickly shifted to whether we were comfortable around dogs. Since then, from our spots in the cubes at 120 Ashford Street, we interns collaborate closely with one another, our supervisors, the BUPD Lieutenant—and of course—Bean and Officer Geovanni Chevere.

Whether we’re designing graphics on Canva or writing social media captions in Bean’s sassy, princess-like tone, the work never gets old. The highlight of our shifts are stepping out of 120 Ashford and heading onto campus to follow Bean and Officer Geo on their rounds.

As Bean prowls through campus, delivering hugs and cuddles to her personal paparazzi (BU students), her entourage (that’s us) trails behind her every step of the way. It’s inspiring to witness the love and care students show her—and to see just how much of an impact she’s made across campus over the past year.

“Working with BU’s community resource dog is always fun because we get to take videos and photograph valuable moments of her bringing joy to the students,” Madina said. "It also allows us to connect to the community as students. Most importantly, we get to see the amazing impact of having a community resource dog on campus”

Who would have guessed that a university resource dog would become the campus’s biggest celebrity? She even has her own trading cards, and we’re the ones who create them. From photoshoots to Canva, each card is thoughtfully designed to match a specific season or campuswide event—like Halloween or graduation. A Bean visit isn’t complete without the enthusiastic faces of students eager to add the latest edition of Bean trading cards to their collection.

“I guess you could say I’m the top dog when it comes to campus collectibles,” Bean said (okay, we said it. but she totally would).

While we may help craft Bean’s online persona, the real credit goes to her handler, Officer Geo. Always wearing a smile, he has just as much an impact on the BU community as Bean herself. Whether he’s offering to take photos of students with Bean or making sure everyone gets a collectible Bean card, Officer Geo goes above and beyond to create meaningful moments.

Next time you spot Bean on campus, don’t be surprised if one of us interns is there, helping Officer Geo and Bean strike the perfect pose for her next Instagram post.