As the dean of Harrison College House at the University of Pennsylvania, Frank Pellicone is well known, but it’s his dog, Elvis, who is the big star in the building.

“He’s a bit of a character and people come to look for him,” says Pellicone.

Pellicone and his husband, Todd Nothstein, who live in an 11th-floor apartment in Harrison, adopted Elvis in 2008 from the Cumberland County SPCA.

The 8-year-old rat terrier is part of their family, but Pellicone says they share him with everyone in the building. With 800 students around, Elvis gets a lot of attention, which he relishes.
“He’ll get on the elevator and someone will get on and pet him, and that’s not good enough for him,” says Pellicone. “He’ll stop and start looking at the other people, as if he’s saying, ‘Excuse me, there’s a dog here. What don’t you notice?’ He expects everyone to give him attention and pet him.”

Elvis is such a celebrity that Jennifer Hook, the house coordinator, created the House’s logo with Elvis’ likeness.  “Elvis makes me smile,” says Hook. “He likes his head rubbed a certain way, and he’ll put his paw up to ask for more. It’s good for me to have an Elvis break.”

His image decorates shirts, mugs and Harrison House publications.

And, when Pellicone and Nothstein celebrated their 10th anniversary at Harrison House, an RA, Theresa Gue, made a cake for them in Elvis’ likeness.
 
Elvis attends many of the House’s events and also accompanies Pellicone to class when he’s teaching. Pellicone is a lecturer in Italian and teaches the  “Italian Americans in Film” course in Cinema Studies.
“He sits there quietly and listens,” says Pellicone.

Pellicone, house dean since 2000, says Elvis’ presence has made the house a friendlier place.

“People will start talking about their dogs at home, or how they never had a dog. Once or twice, we’ve encountered a student who’s afraid of dogs, and Elvis respects their distance.”