Community is the newest buzzword. Community this. Community that. But where can students find community on campus? I guess they can turn to the Barone Campus Center (BCC), I would be wrong to say they couldn’t. Equipped with the updated Fairfield Mirror office, the renovated WVOF radio station and the Fairfield University Students Association (FUSA); the student center surely offers some form of campus community. Doesn’t it?
The Mirror office is packed on Monday nights, busy throughout Tuesday and its doors are always open. Despite this, the majority of the BCC lays bare, devoid of students. For the few students who enter the BCC for a late-night FUSA senate meeting, the occasional ping-pong match or just for a quick cut-through, the BCC tends to be a necessary evil students must traverse to find their way from Egan back to the Quad.
Still, it’s not called the campus center for nothing. In the BCC there is, of course, the Tully, Dunkin Donuts, the Stag Diner, the Commuter Lounge, ping-pong tables and the Mezzanine. The Tully can offer a sense of a collective campus, with students breaking bread together, but it’s chock-full of university staff who often stop by for a meal—and it primarily serves underclassmen with meal plans.
Since community may be hard to find in the BCC, it’d be wrong if I didn’t mention the role that residence halls play in creating community, and as a Resident Assistant myself, I know the hard work we put into creating a welcoming environment for students living under Residence Life’s care. At the end of the day, however, these students are beholden to Residence Life’s care; and are thus not allowed true independence.
While all of these lively locations are full of chatter and food, they’re all run and used by university personnel and are exclusive to those with meal plans or those who live on campus. Therefore, none of them offer students a campus hub. In other words, there’s nowhere on campus that’s for all students, run by students.
Even though the university owns everything on this campus, students deserve a gathering place for all academic years, away from the prying eyes and firm grasp of the administration. Consequently, that leaves us wondering what can be done. As a solution, I offer up a student-run coffee shop on campus.
Schools such as Drexel University, Rice University, Mount St. Mary’s, Marist University and Georgetown University, just to name a few, all boast student-run coffee shops. Student-run coffee shops not only boost the number of student jobs but also enable students to gain entrepreneurial experience and learn business skills—I mean, would that not be right up the Dolan School of Business’ alley? I’m not a business major, but the ability to put classroom knowledge into practice in the real world sounds like a win.
Sometimes, university prompting can become too much. You probably won’t find your best friend at that Life@Fairfield event and although it’s worth a try, students need more options to branch out and make the most of college—without university interference. With a student-run coffee shop, connections can flourish in a natural manner, without the university’s guiding or often overreaching hand. Even though a helping hand is appreciated, it’s best when student interactions are facilitated by students.
Additionally, who doesn’t need more coffee? Okay, sure, we’ve already got three locations, but none are staffed by students. A thriving, student-run coffee shop on campus will create an atmosphere that other dining locations fail to create; we’ll not only have good coffee, but we’ll foster great connections.