UChicago Coffee Shop Controversy

JHS
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 14:10:17 +0000

Yup. Terrible decision on the merits, indefensible on the process. No one who cared a whit about actual student experience could possibly have been involved in the planning, and those who were involved in the planning clearly didn’t think it was important even to raise a question about that. Could there be anything more ham-fisted and OCD than gutting one of the top two or three most popular, vibrant, unstructured, informal student gathering places to build cubicles where university administrators can meet with the heads of formally recognized organizations? (And could there be a stupider idea than having a bunch of administrators assigned to work in a student coffee shop?)

As many of the comments to the Maroon article point out, the relocation of UT means that there are significant unoccupied spaces in the Reynolds Club. I’m sure there are plans for that, too, but it really goes to show how far down the list of anyone’s concerns student life is.