Cambridge hands out guinea pigs to stressed snowflakes

MILLennIaLs have been dubbed the ‘ snowflake generation’ for being too soft to cope with modern life.

now students at Cambridge have done their furry best to live up to that name … by being given guinea pigs to stroke to help them de-stress.

Lucy Cavendish College believes the four pets will help improve students’ mental wellbeing as exams approach. But the move is likely to attract further criticism of young people for lacking any resilience or mental fortitude.

three of the guinea pigs at the all-female college have been given amusing names, chosen by students, based on feminist icons, such as emmeline squeakhurst – after the suffragette.

One is called Virguinea Woolf, a pun on the writer Virginia Woolf, while another goes by Ruth Bader Guineasburg, after the associate justice of the Us supreme court Ruth Bader Ginsburg – only the second woman to be appointed to the post. the fourth pet has simply been named Oreo. they will all be cared for by students.

senior tutor Jane Greatorex said: ‘We are dedicated to promoting mental wellbeing among our students, and numerous studies show the benefits of owning pets, including stress relief and getting outside.’ students’ union officer Laura McClintock added: ‘It’ll be a welcome distraction from deadlines.’

Other soft initiatives to help students through exams in previous years have included manicures, ice cream and massages.

Lucy Cavendish is one of three female-only university colleges in england and accepts only postgraduates and women over 21.