Last year, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) hurried to finalize plans for a student-run café project, both in response to the closure of the Architecture Café and due to high student interest.
The Student-Run Café (SRC) has been highly discussed and anticipated in recent years. It first gained widespread support, then was temporarily put on hold—in response to concerns raised at an internal level—without adequate student consultation. In 2007, SSMU Council decided to sub-lease a space to Café Supreme, rather than selecting one of the student-run alternatives. Following this decision, 2008-2009 SSMU President, Kay Turner, invested substantial time in trying to revive the project, only to be faced with the resignation of the VP Finance and Operations. Since Turner’s tenure, subsequent SSMU executives have discussed the concept, but it never got off the ground. That all changed when last year’s team ended the hiatus by striking a Working Group and establishing a case competition to realize the project.
Through my own experience with SSMU, I realized, and now admittedly confess, that discontinuity between the society and the student body is characterized by hurdles of red tape and unnecessary bureaucracy. The SRC would help cut away some of that red tape by creating a sense of community and collectivism. It would also empower students to be a part of the decision-making process without having to deal with bureaucracy. This is something the SRC Working Group, established to create a business plan and conduct research before the 2013 launch, strongly believed to be lacking at the student union level.
To move forward with this project, I really believe that the endeavour should not solely focus on product differentiation, but instead, should set itself apart in the services it offers. The space must go beyond coffee and tea; it can be used to facilitate fundraisers for student groups, create meeting spaces, serve as a forum to display art, and establish working opportunities. The café needs to be branded from a community perspective, and it helps that there has already been an outcry for SSMU to move forward with the SRC.
What are we so scared of, then? Probably the finances. SSMU has an investment portfolio of $2.3 million. As a not-for-profit, SSMU established a long-term financial plan last year with a list of projects to be covered through this fund. This includes initial costs of the university’s decision to offset utilities costs to the SSMU and an SRC. The most consistent argument against the SRC that I’ve heard is heavily related to funding, and this worry is understandable. However, students have proven that they can manage budgets and work proactively to tackle fiscal concerns. Furthermore, it’s interesting to consider that the SSMU has put a halt to the SRC project due to monetary issues, after the 2010-2011 team granted the Gerts Renovations project about $450,000 in funding, fully aware of the SSMU’s lease issues (SSMU has entered its fourth consecutive year of lease negotiations with the university). It baffles me how money is found for so many projects, while the SRC just takes a back seat every time.
Learning from the past is indispensible. It seems that anyone who opposes the SRC always takes it back to Haven Books—the student-run bookstore that went under in early 2010, after running a near $200,000 deficit. I admit Haven Books was the epitome of a poor operation; however, its downfall was central to location and mismanagement. SSMU should learn from its mistakes and finally adopt an SRC concept over sub-leasing spaces to commercial tenants; especially since rent from tenants is not the main source of SSMU’s revenue stream. Mini Courses is SSMU’s only fully student-run operation, and it has managed to perform quite well. I think this result can be replicated by the SRC. Furthermore, other student unions in Quebec, such as Université Laval and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), have established successful models for their SRCs.
It’s a real shame that SSMU has been unable to respond to one of the most reverberating student demands. I think we need to stop stalling and move forward with this development. You’d hope that five years of student demand and effort is more than enough justification.
Shyam is the former SSMU VP Finance and Operations. He spearheaded the Student-Run Café initiative last year in this capacity.
