About two weeks later, McCombs was banned from the account when Instagram improved security features. When asked, “How old are you?” » McCombs replied that Uma was 6 years old. Instagram only allows users aged 13 and over.
McCombs became the administrator of Uma’s account and since then, the account has accumulated almost 1,500 followers.
“He would say, in class, ‘I’m taking Uma to campus today,'” Pepper said. “And then she became famous.”
Since then, each semester, McCombs brought Uma to campus at least once. The meetings evolved into “Umapalooza,” a title coined by McCombs to describe the events. McCombs advertised these encounters on Uma’s Instagram with crazy graphics and posts.
Eventually, Umapalooza moved to Polk Square, or the Lower Quad, due to the popularity of the event. More … than 90 students came to an Umapalooza on a reading day a few semesters ago, and after a few semesters he said students would know Uma as soon as they arrived in class on the first day.
“And invariably, one of the first questions someone would ask would be ‘So, when are we going to meet Uma?'” said.
Uma spent his first four months of life on a farm in Pittsboro. The farmer decided Uma was too nice to be a hunting dog, so he planned to surrender her to the shelter, McCombs said. The farmer took Uma to the vetand a friend of the McCombs who volunteered at that veterinary practice, called McCombs’ wife.
“She became a vital part of our hearts from day one (we met her),” McCombs said.
Bryn Junetook McCombs’ Mathematics 118: Aspects of Modern Mathematics course in spring 2022.She remember McCombs Shows Uma’s Parody Audition for Iconic Horror Film “The brilliant” the last day of classes. McCombs loved making fake audition videos featuring Uma for fun. McCombs also sometimes showed silly videos of Uma at the beginning or end of class, she said.
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“You see, I suffer from insomnia, I also have Photoshop and video editing software, so it’s a pretty dangerous combination,” McCombs said.
Her favorite is Uma’s audition for a remake of a film called “Easy Rider.”
“Uma was his little sidekick to comfort us and make sure we got through everything,” Giugno said.
Marshall Graham took four separate classes with McCombs during his time at UNC. He said remembers McCombs incorporating Uma into his lectures whenever possible.
“Mark’s character, the way he included Uma in all of our classes, and he would go out of his way to do things like his swim parties and campus meets that had no academic benefit,” she said. -he declares. said. “And it just showed that he really cared about his students and was very committed to our well-being.”
Julia Bassetttook one of McCombs’ classes in spring 2021, while classes were still online. Bassett said that Uma’s meeting on the Quad was the first time she had met one of her teachers in person.
“It really felt like she was bringing a whole community together,” she said. said.
McCombs said goodbye to Uma on Saturday June 8 after Uma’s long battle with arthritic pain.
McCombs posted on Uma’s Instagram the next day to share the news with Uma’s family, friends, former students and fans. He sharing one of her favorite photos of Uma from an Umapalooza of her looking at a student, licking peanut butter off the student’s finger. McCombs said he liked the photo so much because of the way the backlit photo illuminates Uma and reminds her him from Michelangelo’s famous fresco in the Sistine Chapel, “The Creation of Adam”.
He posted the photo alongside a quote from Mary Oliver’s “White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field”: “Perhaps death is not darkness after all, but rather a light that s wraps around us. »
McCombs said he is grateful to his students for helping him through his grief since losing Uma. The students he had years ago, he saidcontacted Uma via the Instagram page to express their condolences.
“I’m so grateful to Uma for sharing her light,” he said. said“And giving me the opportunity to share his light with you all.” »
