By Emily Cummins, Features Editor

It is well known that cats are on campus, and it is speculated that Kate Mason Hofstra (of the Hofstra Estate where our campus was built in 1935) declared in her will that the estate be a sanctuary for stray cats.

Mrs. Hofstra and William S. Hofstra did not have any children. She, however, was an animal lover who had a steam-heated-structure on her property for her pets. At the time of her death those included 25 cats, four dogs, and three parrots, and it was noted in her will that her pets were to be taken care of after her death.

But this only applied to her pets. In Article Eleventh of her will, written in 1933, Mrs. Hofstra gave her pets to her housekeeper Elizabeth Hiserodt who would be given a house in which to live with these pets and an allowance of 150 dollars each month for three years.

“It is my intention by this Article Eleventh to allow a suitable period of time to elapse after my death so that my Executers may have ample time to dispose of my more valuable belongings at the best obtainable prices and so that my pets may continue to be in the same environment to which they are accustomed until the establishment of the home which I have provided for the said Elizabeth Hiserodt where she can properly take care of them in substantially the same manner as present,” Mrs. Hofstra stated in her will.

In regards to her estate, then called The Netherlands, she expressed to her designated Executers that the property not be used for personal or corporate use, but rather something that would be of use to the community like a hospital, a museum, or a school.

Although the myth is false, the fact still remains that there are cats on campus, even though Mrs. Hofstra did not say they should be. There are cats seen on campus by students, faculty, and staff. There are also several plates and bowls filled with fish-shaped kibble and wet cat food on campus under the trees near Café on Th e Quad, hidden in the bushes in front of Heger Hall, behind a dumpster in the rear entrance of Bits and Bytes, and in a few basement stairwells attached to Emily Lowe Hall.

The plates and bowls are filled nearly every day and empty by the next morning, but the faculty and staff near the locations do not seem to know or were not willing to say who exactly is supplying the food and feeding the cats. The secretaries who work in Heger Hall said that a woman from off-campus who is not a University employee feeds them, while Lackmann employees refrained from commenting on the matter altogether.

Rita Corbett, the Senior Support Specialist of Honors College, said that a former secretary of the Philosophy and Religion Department, Barbara Francis, used to feed the cats along with the help of an off campus woman. Both could not be reached for comment. When asked about the cats on campus, Public Safety also declined to comment.

The cats may be a sensitive topic among those who work for the University, however, several students love these “cute” additions to the Hofstra Pride. Although students, like freshman Ken Duarte, “wish they were friendlier.”

“They don’t like it when you creep up behind them to pet them,” agreed freshman Justin Smith.

Plates filled with cat food outside of Cafe on the Quad. (Emily Cummins)

Kate Mason Hofstra at her estate with one of her many dogs. (University Archives)