By Jacob Horn

Haverford students achieved the first step towards getting a cafe in the Haverford College Apartments when they passed a plenary resolution. Now the feasibility and logistics have to be worked out before any further steps can be taken.

Students’ Council Co-President Will Harrison ’10, who presented the resolution, said the original idea for a café in the Apartments was suggested last year, when the administration was working with SC on considering ways to make HCA a more liveable space. However, given the state of the economy and the college budget, Harrison had assumed there would not be money for such a project after the work done on the apartments over the summer.

But when he spoke with Director of Facilities Management Ron Tola over the summer, Harrison found the Facilities budget still contained the student improvement funds this year. He and Tola discussed the café idea, and Harrison continued to pursue the idea further as the school year began, discussing it with SC representatives and other students.

“I wanted it to be a Plenary resolution because I knew there were negatives and I really wanted students to have an idea that this is what we could be giving up,” Harrison said. He also said that having student interest demonstrated through the passing of the resolution would prove helpful when addressing administrative concerns.

Although Will Harrison discussed the café idea with several administrators before Plenary, he wishes he had spoken to them earlier. An article published in The Bi-College News before Plenary said that the café would be built in the basement of apartment 31, but neither this nor any other specific details of the project have been agreed upon yet. Several administrators asked to comment for this story, including Vice President for Finance and Administration Dick Wynn, Dean of the College Martha Denney and Tola, did not wish to speak until more details had been worked out.

“We’re still waiting for Students’ Council to tell us what they want,” Wynn said.

Ideally, Harrison said the café would go in the basement of an apartment with a back door that opens onto the pergola area, which could have electrical outlets installed to allow bands to perform there. Both apartments 31 and 23 have been discussed as possible locations.

“We’re not looking at trying to duplicate the Coop atmosphere,” he said. Harrison imagines the space being more like Lunt Café.

“I think having a more laid back, quieter atmosphere would make a lot more sense and be a lot more helpful to the people living above,” he said.

The café would also be managed similarly to Lunt, with student managers and employees. Emily Carton ’11, one of the Lunt co-managers, said she cannot imagine the same group of students managing both cafés, but does see the potential for collaboration between the two establishments. She said the two cafes could, “coordinate to offer similar events or different types of food, so we can make sure we’re catering to all parts of the community.”

Carton said the Lunt management is not concerned about losing business to a café in the apartments because most of their business comes from students living up-campus.

“Generally, people don’t come up from the apartments late at night to grab a bite unless they’re already at a FUCS show or something, in which case, they’re still going to come to Lunt Café,” she said.

Carton also expressed some concern that, in approving the Plenary resolution, students might not have considered the amount of money that goes into running a café. She explained that Lunt’s prices are low and its hours are long because the café receives funding from SC.

“Any money that goes towards a café is going to come out of money that would be going towards other clubs," Carton said. "I think that’s something people need to think about.”

A café in the apartments might also impact night business at the Coop, a concern to many students and staff. When presenting the resolution, Harrison acknowledged some differing opinions between Director of Haverford College Dining Services John Francone and Coop Manager Geoff Labe on whether or not the new café might hurt night business at the Coop.

During plenary, Zach Dutton ’10, a Coop employee, said Labe had told workers the Coop could close completely at night if the new café were to open. Harrison responded that, were this to be the case, he would not want to move forward with the project.

In an interview with The Bi-College News, Labe said that the Coop considers possible effects on its business whenever a new eatery opens, on- or off-campus. He said that the café could be molded in such a way as to not compete with the Coop, but students have yet not made clear what would be offered.


Labe said that he is currently getting a rough idea of how much of the Coop’s business comes from HCA by checking customers’ campus addresses when they pay with a Coop account. However, he is considering more formal ways of polling customers so that he can get information from customers not paying with a OneCard.

When Labe considered the Coop’s relationship with Lunt Café, he said that he doesn’t think the two establishments compete in a “McDonald’s versus Wendy’s” way, “where we’re out to destroy the other one’s business.” But sometimes, he explained, simple proximity can create more competition than there might otherwise be.

“That’s where our concern came in with the HCA Café," Labe said. "Obviously, if they’re going to be a full coffee bar and a sandwich shop, similar to what Lunt is—if you have that down at HCA, there’s no reason for students to come up to the Coop.”

Harrison will continue talks about the café with students and administrators in the coming weeks.

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