News > February 21, 2008

By Liza Greenspun | Senior writer

Much of the university community may have thought that the controversy about bringing Starbucks to campus ended last year after students petitioned the university’s plans, expressing concerns about the future of Campus Grounds. But the controversy has returned, nearly a year later, as tangible plans to enact the proposals set forth in the Strategic Plan are being made. One section of the library’s Strategic Plan focused on potential renovations to the 24-hour study rooms, which will include the transformation of Rhoda’s into a full coffee shop. This is where the coffee shop controversy begins once again.

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The university is discussing plans to bring either Starbucks or Java City to campus, which could possibly put Campus Grounds out of business. (Kelly Makepeace)

The Proposals

According to sophomore Jermyn Davis, student representative on the library planning committee, the goal of the library renovations is to have not only an academic atmosphere, but also a social space in the library.

The coffee shop would be beneficial, Davis said, in that students would not have to walk outside in order to get their coffee when they are studying in the library.

“Why not give Campus Grounds the attraction and the upgraded business by bringing it into the library?” he said.

Instead, senior Whitney Marshall said, Student Government president, the university is discussing plans to bring an outside vendor, narrowed to either Starbucks or Java City, to fill the space in the library that is currently Rhoda’s.

Java City is the current coffee supplier for Campus Grounds.

SG and those involved with Campus Grounds are instead proposing, as Davis suggested, that Campus Grounds moves from its current location in Taylor House to the library.

This change in location would eliminate the concern that the addition of a brand name coffee shop to a more central campus location would run Campus Grounds out of business.

Grounds for Controversy

The reason Campus Grounds is frustrated, said senior Christina Chauvenet, chair of the Campus Grounds advisory committee, has to do with the timing of the decision.

“Campus Grounds was not informed of the initial planning process until it was well under way, which is unfair,” Chauvenet said. “It is very much a side swipe because no one made an effort to talk to anyone in Campus Grounds.”

Senior Patrick Quay, student manager of Campus Grounds, agrees that the lack of time is an issue, as well as the fact that such a similar situation occurred last year when the university wanted to replace Shorty’s with Starbucks.

“We’re kind of scrambling to put (a proposal) together,” Quay said. “It would have helped if we had had more time.”

History of Campus Grounds

Campus Grounds was a student initiative started five years ago. For the first two or three years, it was run completely by the students who started it. While Campus Grounds lost money for its first few years, it turned a profit for the first time during the 2005-2006 academic year, making a little over $5,000. A profit of about the same amount was made last year, Quay said.

“If we started losing money again I think we would be driven out,” Quay said of a situation that would include an outside vendor in the library and Campus Grounds maintaining its current location.

Campus Grounds sells 100 percent fair trade coffee, while Starbucks only offers one fair trade coffee blend, Chauvenet said.

“Fair trade is more cohesive to Pro Humanitate,” she said, citing the importance of the university’s motto.

“We serve as a display area for student art,” Quay said. The mural on the back wall was created by a former manager and his mother, he said.

Additionally, Marshall said the university’s commitment to entrepreneurial programs is a reason that Campus Grounds should stay.

“That’s very, very contradictory,” she said.

The Library’s Side

Lynn Sutton, director of the library, said that ideas for renovations first began when Provost Jill Tiefenthaler became excited about making changes to the two 24-hour study rooms.

“The Rhoda’s side is envisioned as being a collaborative space with coffee and food,” Sutton said.

The other side will be renovated with more comfortable seating and a nicer atmosphere. “Our original goal still holds true,” Sutton said of bringing a coffee shop to the library. “We want it to be a community space for people from all walks of the Wake Forest community.”

Sutton said that the library is the last stop for campus tours, and parents and prospective students are often looking for a place to sit and have a cup of coffee after the tour ends.

Therefore, she said, they were looking for a coffee shop that could be open year round. “That’s why we didn’t immediately think of Campus Grounds,” Sutton said.

According to Davis, a door will be open on the side of the library to enter the new coffee shop, ensuring that it will serve all of the university community and not only the undergraduate students who are studying in the library.

Sutton said that the goals she envisions from the new coffee shop have not yet been met by Campus Grounds as it currently stands.

“My opinion is that it needs to be a place where everyone can feel welcome and the hours are such that it will meet the needs of undergraduate students,” she said.

However, Sutton said, she did see the poll on The Student that ran before announcements of planned changes to the university were made. “There was a sizeable percentage that want (Campus Grounds) to move,” she said, “so I think that needs to be taken into consideration.”

Campus Grounds’ Rebuttal

According to Davis, most of the late-night clientele at Campus Grounds walk over from the library, so if there is a closer location for coffee, it is unlikely that students will walk outside to go to Campus Grounds.

Chauvenet said that they do not want Campus Grounds to remain where it is and be subsidized by the university, as managing a business without help from the university is an important job for students.

“It’s something we were really proud of when we started making money,” she said, adding that Campus Grounds does not want pity from the university.

Marshall said she had received about 50 e-mails concerning the coffee shop issue, and about 90 percent of them supported moving Campus Grounds to the library.

Quay said Campus Grounds is willing to work with the administration and be open during the non-academic year, although they do want the business to continue to be run completely by students.

“It’s better when you have student servers,” Chauvenet said. “It makes you feel better, like you’re giving something back to students.”