Students are more than aware of the hole left at Kenyon by our dearly departed Cove, the reliable harbinger of alcohol and the accompanying good times. Much has been said of a “new Cove”—that it will be found in Colburn, in various NCAs, in off-campus houses. However, according to the administration, the new Cove will actually be located in a much more conspicuous building: Peirce.
The college is moving ahead with plans to turn Peirce Pub into a space that would serve similar functions as the Gambier Grill did. AVI, the company that manages our meals, will have control of the food and alcohol sales. A recent Collegian article, found here, reveals that the Pub will serve beer, wine, and liquor in the form of mixed drinks, as well as a menu that features traditional bar fare. Shots of hard liquor will not be served.
I appreciate the administration’s attempts to give the student body a space that is, quite frankly, quite needed on a campus this isolated and insular. However, I (like many students) have doubts about how well this proposed plan will work next year. It is hard to imagine Peirce Pub becoming a meeting place on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights in the same way the Cove was; it is significantly different being intoxicated in a place that has real ties to the administration. While Campus Security could have just as easily been called to the Grill, Peirce Pub is a building that is owned outright by the college; whether or not one chooses to purchase drinks from the Pub, simply being intoxicated in such a space carries much more risk than being intoxicated at the Cove did. I have doubts that many students will want to incur this unnecessary risk, and will instead hold parties in their own spaces. This will force drinking on the campus further underground and more difficult to regulate or ensure is safe. In addition, the Pub is almost sure to be trashed in the process. The Cove saw many instances of vandalism, none as extreme as its last night of operation, but even moving beyond the Cove, party spaces at Kenyon have a tendency to simply become gross. Look at Weaver Cottage, a building wherein parties used to be held but now are not due to the damages the building incurred while it was in operation. It is likely that the college will need to repair, or, at the very least, deep clean the Pub once the construction of the new bar/restaurant is complete. This costs more money for the school, which already has issues with its budget.
Peirce and AVI are almost consistently understaffed during regular working hours. Who is going to fill the 10 pm–2 am shifts that will be required on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday? Will AVI be able to keep the Pub staffed, and what will happen if it doesn’t? Will we still be just as Cove-less as we were before?
There are a number of issues with the proposed plan for Peirce Pub that I think make it questionable as to whether or not it will be a success. What should we do instead? Honestly, I don’t have the answer. I do think that the college should go ahead with the plan, as it’s the best option that’s been proposed, but I also think that this is evidence that more thinking and planning need to go into decisions that affect student life. The lack of a Cove-like space on campus and the problems associated with attempting to turn the dining hall into a similar spot should have been thought of long before the decision was finalized or before it was torn down. Hopefully, more thought put into future decisions that will certainly affect student life.
Image Credit: Unique Venues, The Thrill