Renovations to Matthew’s Mug on hold

Mike Alberti Staff Writer

Matthew’s Mug patrons looking to sip drinks in a newly remodeled setting will have to wait. Following the suspension of hard alcohol last semester in response to the Mug’s troubled finances, renovations originally planned for this past summer have now been delayed indefinitely, pending increases in funding.

After much deliberation, last year’s Senior Class Gift Committee elected to raise money for renovations to the Mug. In a letter to the Class of 2006, the Committee wrote that the Mug is “highly under-utilized and in need of great repair,” and that the goal is to “provide opportunity for greater and more varied social events that could take place during the day or night.”

Sixty-three percent of the class donated to the project. The Committee raised $9,304, which was supplemented by the Vassar Club of Portland for a total of $39,304.

The renovations were scheduled to begin over the summer, but no work has been done as of yet. The College is now planning to increase the original donation with additional fundraising, and to do further renovations beyond the proposals by the Class of 2006.

Dean of the College Judy “JJ” Jackson called the Mug a “wasted space,” and expressed her hope that it will become more than a nightclub. “The question was: could we make better use of the Mug, and could we do more renovations than the Senior Class Gift would allow?” she said. “Also, if we could make it into a pleasant, beautiful space in addition to Mug nights, are there other opportunities for the space we haven’t yet thought of?”

Director of Marketing in Campus Dining Kenneth Oldehoff, who oversees the Mug, said, “I think the Senior Class was expecting the renovations to occur during the summer. At some point in the summer, there was a moment when we thought, ‘We don't want to do those things and then sometime in the near future do them over again.’ If we were going to increase the scope of the project, it made more sense to figure out exactly what that would be.”

Jackson said that she had been called upon to investigate the reasons for the Mug’s financial losses last year and discovered that “most of it revolves around alcohol use.” The Mug was temporarily shut down in January of 2005 because of an incident involving underage drinking. Last semester, the College suspended the sale of hard alcohol in the Mug because, according to Jackson, “the student bartenders were giving away the product.” Oldehoff would not comment on this claim, but confirmed an addition of Aramark staff to monitor the student bartenders and drinkers. The Mug still serves beer and wine, which Oldehoff said are “easier to keep track of.”

As for the effects of the changes, Oldehoff said, “We also have a full time manager now, [Aramark employee] Kevin Thomas...We definitely have to hire some more bartenders. 10 to 12 would be ideal. I usually have the Mug bartenders look for other bartenders. We’re not intentionally not trying to hire people, there just haven’t been any suggestions made so far.”
Student bartender/manager at the Mug Jeremy Robinson-Leon ’07 said of the ban, “As bartenders and as students in general, most of my friends and I are unhappy. I don’t think the decision was made with a good deal of input.”

When asked about the planned renovations, Robinson-Leon said, “The Mug is disgusting. There are no paper towels in the bathroom; there is no soap. We are definitely understaffed right now. The bar equipment needs upkeep; so does the sound system. [Security Officer] Betty Francis really needs a backup Security guard on Fridays and Saturdays so she isn’t so overwhelmed. In some ways, the renovation is really needed, but there are a lot of small things that should be done in the meantime.”

Responding to rumors that she plans to ban all alcohol from the Mug, Jackson said, “I would not want the Mug to be alcohol-free. It’s the Mug. I want it to be clean, smell nice, and provide other opportunities for the campus to use in addition to the ones we know about now.”

Chris Galli ’06 was a bartender at the Mug and also served as co-chair of the Senior Class Gift Committee. “The Mug is a liability,” said Galli. “Anytime you have students drinking, you have to worry about it. It’s safer for students to remain on campus, so it’s a priority to keep the Mug open.”

In previous years, the Senior Class has complained about feeling left out of the gift decision-making process. The 2005 Class Gift (the expansion of the wireless network in the Library) was criticized as being mundane. The 2006 Committee took that criticism into consideration, and decided to take on much more ambitious project: the Mug overhaul.

Susan Sheehan, liaison to the Senior Class Gift Committee from the Development Office, said, “I don’t think the decision to raise money for the renovations was in reaction to the Mug losing money. The Senior Class simply thought the space could be put to better use.” When asked if the Senior Class of 2006 had been notified about the project’s delay, Sheehan said, “I don’t know how many people actually know. The Committee co-chairs are aware that the renovations didn’t happen. We send out an appeal letter to the Senior Class each semester asking for donations, and we plan to explain in the first letter why they haven’t happened and what the new plan is.”

Jackson has assembled a new committee to decide which changes are feasible. “If we could get it together and start the renovation over winter break, that would great. Otherwise, it would have to wait until the summer,” said Sheehan.