Down the rabbit hole with Chapman’s ‘Bunny Guy’

Photo courtesy of Alec Waters (The Bunny Guy)

One of the first things I missed after leaving home my freshman year was my dog. There is an undeniable therapeutic quality to our relationships with our pets, and losing that is one of the underdiscussed adjustments in college life.

This aching sentiment I felt all changed one Friday afternoon as I was walking between classes and spotted a group holding bunnies on the lawn in front of Hashinger. Enter: Alec Waters, perhaps better known around campus by his Instagram handle, “The Bunny Guy.”

Toaster; Photo courtesy of Alec Waters

“As you might imagine, (the responses) started out with shock,” said Waters. “Who's seen a bunch of rabbits lying randomly in an enclosure? Most people would ask if I was there as part of a club or a staff member at Chapman. I would explain that I'm just a dude with rabbits that wanted to give them grass time, and people can hang out if they want to.”

Waters, a software engineer at a healthcare company in Orange and a musician, takes his four bunnies to campus in “bunny walks” which have become a weekly tradition. Quickly building a community of student regulars who visit the bunnies week after week, the community built around the bunnies has left a profound impact on many. 

In the blur of busy college life, these community-focused moments of pause are essential.

“I think that the bunny guy is doing something that our mental health services are not,” said freshman animation and visual effects major Eden Rauch. “They're providing a way in which students can relieve stress without having to schedule a day for it … Especially on a Friday, I feel like that's when a lot of school assignments culminate. So, it's nice to have time in your busy schedule to cuddle some bunnies.”

Petunia; Photo courtesy of Alec Waters

While the bunny walks have become a Chapman staple, with tour guides often making the stop to show prospective students, they weren’t always at Chapman. Starting in the circle, Waters was met with a positive response, but moved the bunnies to Chapman’s campus following construction on the fountain in the aftermath of one of the circle’s countless car crashes.

“I could have just turned around and gone home, but I really wanted to make something out of it,” said Waters. “One of the only places I could think of that wasn't just someone's front yard was Chapman because I knew that there were plenty of grassy areas. I figured I'll give it a shot by bringing rabbits over there, and there's a high possibility I might get kicked out … But that didn't happen at all, and people just kept asking me to come back.”

Adopting his first bunny, Toaster, in 2018, the obsession quickly grew as Waters and his wife got more rabbits to socialize with one another. Within this weekly bonding, many students have formed close relationships with particular bunnies.

Guinness; Photo courtesy of Alec Waters

Between his four bunnies: Toaster, Petunia, Guinness and Moana, the unique personalities of each bunny are part of what makes the bunny walks worth returning to each week. 

“Rabbits tend to show their signs really subtly, but to me, who’s around them all the time, it's pretty distinct,” said Waters.

“Toaster is stoic,” said Waters. “He's a really great sport when he's out at the bunny walks, but at home, he really just wants Petunia as company and couldn't really give a shit if anyone else is around, including myself … We obviously love each other, and having him as my first returning pet was a really special bond. But now that he has a girlfriend (Petunia), he doesn't really care.”

Moana; Photo courtesy of Alec Waters

“Petunia is really ditzy and isn't really scared of anything despite her size,” said Waters. “She's always willing to try and make a friend with something … She's a little fuzzball of static and energy.”

“Guinness is the next rabbit in the order that we have acquired them. He’s a bigger bunny and tends not to really move around as quickly as the others,” said Waters. “But he's very energetic all the same, and just absolutely loves people. He doesn't really have a vicious bone in his body.” 

“Finally, Moana is our most recent bunny that we got two years ago,” said Waters. “Among our four rabbits in total, as well as two cats at home, she is effectively the alpha of all of them … Every time I tried to place her and Guinness in the same enclosure for bonding, she would just relentlessly try to bite him. I ended up having to get bird handling gloves because of how vicious she is.”

In his Instagram bio, Waters writes, “time doesn't exist when you're holding a bunny.” His presence on campus gives students a chance to pause and forget the stresses of college life. Those little bunnies can bring so much joy.

“I'd say my favorite part is what the entire experience does for people who come by,” said Waters. “We can all relate to having moments of hopelessness and being really down. Picturing what someone might have felt like before showing up and seeing their face light up by the end of (the bunny walk) means the world to me. It makes me feel like I'm doing even more for people's health than I am working for a giant health company; it gives me an extreme sense of purpose.”