Last Saturday was the spring opening of Fairfield @ Night’s South Side Café. This warm and inviting space lit up by Christmas lights and mood lighting, is conveniently located in 42 Bellarmine Road. Kamala Kiem, assistant dean of students and director of student programs and leadership development, conceptualized this space, where music plays softly in the background and student art is proudly displayed around the periphery. Along with a dedicated staff, this common space in Bellarmine has gone from a simple lounge to an ideal hangout spot for college students.
Since last semester, South Side Café has decided to revamp their menu to include delicious late night food options for half the cost of something you would typically order in the Stag. The new menu includes everything from egg sandwiches to grilled cheeses to French fries and chicken nuggets. As always coffee, tea, water and soda are always free.
Colleen Wilson ‘11, the program coordinator for Fairfield @ Night, says that the new menu was prompted by a student need for “healthier food options,” which is why fruit cups and yogurt have been added to the late night menu. She says her main goal with the menu is to “cater to the students.” Wilson also says that a majority of the funding for this program comes from Student Programs and Leadership Development, as well as the Dean of Students office.
South Side Café usually averages around 160 students per event, according to Wilson, and in all the events they’ve had thus far that has totaled over 830 students.
When breaking it down to attendance per grade, Wilson found that 52 percent of attendees were freshmen, 25 percent were sophomores, 8 percent were juniors and 15 percent were seniors. In a post-event survey, 87 percent of those who attended said that they would attend again.
To those of the student population who haven’t attended, why haven’t they? Freshman Morgan Walton said, “I don’t feel the need to go primarily because it is at the other end of campus and is pretty far away from where my res. hall is. Also, while we get a lot of emails about it, a lot of people really still don’t know about it or pay attention to it.”
When speaking with lead program strategist Eric Lynch ‘14 and program strategist Nicole Fede ‘16, two of the events organizers, they say that in the future they hope that the program will not be a “flop” and will continue to prosper as time goes on. They both agree that this is a wonderful alternative for something to do on a weekend, and hope that people will learn to appreciate the unique space and the environment it offers.
In the upcoming months, South Side Café will be hosting a number of events that students can take advantage of. These include Paint Nite on Saturday, Feb. 8, where students can reserve their own easel and get professional paint instruction from an expert.
Also, throughout the rest of the semester they will have an open mic night, three live bands including DJ Horstman’s Band and Brent and Co. Band, and Your Mom Does Improv.
So, if you’re looking for another option for something to do on a Saturday night, come on down to South Side Café, every other Saturday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
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