Dr. Dillamond
Dr. Dillamond is a goat and a professor at Gnu York University's School of Social Work in We Can Fix Pawbert. He teaches UNDSWUS 55: Diversity, Speciesism, Oppression and Privilege — the foundation course for Social Work students. His name is a Wicked Easter egg, referencing the goat professor from the musical.
"Some of you are here because this course is required. Some of you are here because you believe in social justice. Some of you are here because it fit your schedule." / "All of those are valid reasons. By the end of this semester, I hope you'll have better ones." — Dr. Dillamond, "First Day"
Background
Dr. Dillamond has been teaching at GYU for years, developing case studies on systemic oppression in Zootopia. His Reptile Ravine case study — examining the Lynxley family's theft of the Weather Wall patent and the destruction of the reptile community — was prepared three years before Pawbert enrolled in the program.
Personality
Dr. Dillamond is an experienced educator who opens difficult conversations about privilege and oppression and then polices their edges. He enters a room without rushing and it quiets before he speaks. He is direct but not cruel, pressing students on the assumptions underneath their evidence while acknowledging the courage it takes to confront uncomfortable truths.
He also enforces a limit on what a discussion may cost the mammals in it. When a question turns a student into the material, he ends the question rather than the silence, and when he judges that he has put a student in that position himself, he changes the way his course runs rather than defending the choice.
Physical Description
Dr. Dillamond is an older goat who wears glasses and carries a battered canvas satchel. His appearance suggests years of dedicated academic work.
Series History
Season 4
In "First Day", Dr. Dillamond teaches Pawbert's first class at GYU. His opening case study is Reptile Ravine — the Lynxley family's theft of Agnes De'Snake's Weather Wall patent, the framing of Agnes for murder, and the destruction of the reptile community. As he presents the material, Pawbert realizes he is sitting in a classroom learning about his own family's crimes as an academic case study.
When a zebra student asks Pawbert directly what it was like growing up not knowing about his family's history, Dr. Dillamond shuts the question down before the silence can set, telling the room that nobody in the classroom owes anyone their biography and offering Pawbert the option to move on. Pawbert answers anyway. Dr. Dillamond thanks him and names what it cost, then turns the moment back to the class, describing how oppression moves through generations, how privilege blinds, and how mammals can be complicit without understanding what they are complicit in — and the harder question of what they do once they know. At the end of the hour he previews the next session on speciesism in contemporary institutions, putting a newspaper clipping of Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps on the screen as Zootopia's first fox and rabbit officers. When Pawbert stays behind to say he will not ask for special treatment, Dr. Dillamond tells him he will do well in the program not despite his history, but because of how he is choosing to face it.
In "Case Study", Dr. Dillamond runs a presentation day on speciesism in contemporary Zootopia. Leopard student Sloane presents research calling predator and prey pairings biologically unstable, and Pawbert stands to declare that Nick and Judy are his family, using the size-scaled service counters at his Snarlbucks job to separate accommodation from segregation. Dr. Dillamond calls the distinction a crucial one, then presses Sloane on who conducted her studies and what assumptions shaped their methodology until she concedes the point. When Snorton protests that he is only saying what everyone thinks, Dr. Dillamond names that as the most invisible form of speciesism — absorbed rather than malicious, common sense even when it is neither common nor sensible. He then changes his course policy on the spot: any case study concerning living mammals — particularly mammals someone in the room goes home to — clears his desk first, and no student will be asked to stand up and account for their own life in front of their classmates.
In "Radio Silence", he lectures on institutional barriers and systemic change while Pawbert, three days into Luther's radio silence, takes notes that will mean nothing to him later.
In "Full Circle", Pawbert brings his final reflection essay to Dr. Dillamond's office in Silvermane Center. Dr. Dillamond leaves the paper where it lands and tells Pawbert he has come a long way since the Reptile Ravine case study, that sitting in that classroom took courage, and that he was never just a case study — he was a mammal trying to understand where he came from so he could choose where he was going. He wishes Pawbert luck and tells him the door is open.
Key Phrases
| Phrase | Context | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| "By the end of this semester, I hope you'll have better ones." | Opening lecture | Sets expectations for genuine engagement |
| "One family's crimes. One hundred years of consequences." | Reptile Ravine case study | Summarizes Lynxley legacy |
| "Stop there. Nobody in this classroom owes anyone their biography." | Cutting off the zebra student's question | Refuses to make Pawbert account for his family |
| "Thank you, Mr. Lynxley. That takes courage." | After Pawbert answers anyway | Acknowledges difficulty of public honesty |
| "Not despite your history— because of how you're choosing to face it." | After class | Affirms Pawbert's approach |
| "Accommodation versus segregation. That's a crucial distinction." | "Case Study" | Acknowledges Pawbert's argument |
| "'What everyone thinks' is often the most invisible form of speciesism. It's not malicious. It's absorbed. It becomes common sense even when it's neither common nor sensible." | Answering Snorton | Names unexamined bias as the course's real subject |
| "...no student will be asked to stand for their own life in front of the class." | Changing course policy on the spot | Takes responsibility for the position he put Pawbert in |
| "You were never just a case study, Mr. Lynxley." | "Full Circle", handing back the semester | Closes the arc the Reptile Ravine lecture opened |
Course: UNDSWUS 55
Dr. Dillamond teaches UNDSWUS 55: Diversity, Speciesism, Oppression and Privilege. The course examines:
- How privilege enables oppression
- How systems perpetuate inequality across generations
- The intersection of diversity, speciesism, and structural power
- Case studies including Reptile Ravine and Nick/Judy's contribution to institutional change
Trivia
- Dr. Dillamond's name is a Wicked Easter egg, referencing the goat professor from the musical who faces discrimination and persecution.