Dispute over pub at UBC heats up
University of B.C. president Stephen Toope is being asked to intervene in a dispute that has cost a popular campus pub its ability to serve alcohol.
In March, UBC decided to indefinitely withdraw the liquor licence for Koerner’s Pub, which is operated by the post-secondary school’s graduate student society. University officials, who control the licence, cited concerns about underage drinking and poor management at the establishment.
The decision came shortly after an intoxicated student who had apparently been drinking at the pub was injured and required surgery after falling from a roof overhang on the campus.
Arvind Saraswat, president of the UBC graduate student society, has written to Toope expressing frustration with how the university has since handled the matter.
“The suspension is beginning to cripple the GSS financially, and has likewise straitened the finances of almost two dozen students who work in the pub,” reads the July 2 letter from Saraswat, which was sent to the Straight.
“It is my submission that UBC’s handling of this matter is disproportionate and unwarranted,” the letter continues.
Saraswat notes steps have been taken to have the licence restored, including management changes and increased oversight from the graduate student society executive.
Saraswat also questions whether the university wants to “take over” the graduate student centre, and seeks assurance UBC supports the existence of a pub in the Graduate Student Centre.
In closing, the letter to Toope reads: “Your immediate intervention in this matter will be highly appreciated.”
Comments
5 Comments
Really?
Jul 8, 2010 at 12:53am
Does anyone actually give a fuck about underage drinking? If we let a few 17 year olds get shitfaced, are the fibres of our society going to unravel before our very eyes?
It's a pub at a university, not a nightclub where everyone is coked out of their brains, nor a shitty party at some lecherous pervert's house.
Unsympathetic
Jul 8, 2010 at 9:36am
Sounds like actual consequences are kicking in for poor management. Isn't it some kind of conflict that grad students run the joint, selling liquor to grad students? No wonder the place was so sloppy, selling to minors and selling to excess.
UBC Student
Jul 8, 2010 at 11:35am
The University and the RCMP at UBC have been seeking to change the party atmosphere on campus in recent years by clamping down on establishments, parties and Greek organizations. Asking Toope for help should give him a good laugh.
Morty
Jul 8, 2010 at 9:43pm
Unsympathetic: You do realize that grad students already have several years of university behind them, right? It's only first- and second-year undergrads who are underage. That said, student (both graduate and undergraduate) run pubs at pretty much every university in Canada. There's no more conflict in that than there is in letting non-students sell to non-students.
UBC's been trying to run the GSS out of their building (which was deeded to the University by Leon Koerner specifically for use as a graduate student centre) for years. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've decided to use allegations of serving minors as an excuse to shut Koerner's down in the hopes of grabbing the space for administrative use.
Poor Student
Jul 8, 2010 at 11:41pm
UBC is pretending as if it was oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 3 month suspension compared to 4 day shutdown ordered by the province is a total joke.
UBC wants the pub to make more money out of poor students. All we need is a bigger Point Grill. Oh yes UBC lost millions of dollars in the US meltdown, its time for students to make up for those losses.