Meet Purrfessor Max: the campus cat who's spent years greeting students, riding backpacks, and joining college tours, has earned him an honorary 'doctor of litter-ature' title

It seems like everybody had a campus cat in college, but not all of these studious cats receive the esteemed honor they deserve.

I studied at an arts and design academy. You can already imagine the eccentric types of people who enroll there as students without me writing a word about it. And, as naturally as it goes, many of my fellow students were cat people. And, also as naturally, it seems, we had some permanent cats living on campus grounds.

First and foremost, there was The Sultan. Yes, he had to have the "The" in the name, because he was that impressive. He was a huge tomcat with a thick orange coat, who would walk heavily all around the territory, and plop himself right at the center of the main yard for everyone to notice him. Then there was his Queen, a young grey female with a very long tail. She was skittish, but loved it when the students offered some food. But then we discovered The Sultan had another queen, so we creatively named her Mistress. She was a friendly calico who was loved by everyone on campus. She meowed loudly for pets.

And despite them being the most permanent residents on campus (because, you know, all students and professors go home eventually, even after days that seem like they stretch forever), they were never acknowledged by any official staff. But that's not the case for Max, the resident campus cat of Vermont State University. After being the friendliest cat for years, to both students and faculty members, he was honored with a fitting doctor title - just as if he were an esteemed university teacher, a professor of high regard.