Students dance the years away at Matthew’s Mug

Lauren Sutherland Senior Editor

This year marked the 32nd birthday of Matthew’s Mug, which has become firmly embedded in campus life as the host of musical performances, themed parties, trivia nights, and good old-fashioned clubbing. Last year, the Class of 2006 announced its intention to finance the renovation of the Mug as the Senior Class Gift, but the project was delayed by funds that seemed insufficient to support the scope of the plans. So how has the space been transformed by the generations that have shimmied across its hardwood dance floor? The Misc takes a look at the Mug through the ages.

A bar is born

In September of 1975, Matthew’s Mug was introduced to the campus as part of the newly-rebuilt College Center. The original Mug was a bar and grill as well as a space to cure dance fever. One of the Mug’s original features, a sunken dance floor, was almost immediately replaced in early 1976 when a student fell down its steps and broke an ankle.

The place to be in the ‘80s—no really, the only place

The ‘80s marked the Mug’s arguable heyday as the nexus of campus life. Students were willing to wait up to three hours to gain entry, and even the purgatorial Mug line was a party unto itself.

But the Mug’s future was brought into question in 1985, when the New York state minimum drinking age was raised from 18 to 21. The College considered turning the Mug into a bar exclusively for of-age patrons, but revised the decision in light of tremendous student protest. Retreat Director of Marketing and Sustainability Ken Oldehoff recalled how students bolted the doors to the Mug shut with a kryptonite lock, and refused to open the space until the College revised the new policy. Soon afterwards, the I.D. bracelet policy was implemented, so that bartenders could better discern between legal and underage customers.

Students endure tortured separation from the Mug

As part of an extensive College Center renovation program, the Mug received a new ventilation system at the beginning of the 2001 academic year ; however, work was halted by the discovery that the ceiling no longer met safety regulations, and extensive renovation of the space was prolonged until Nov. 29, 2001. More extravagant changes, such as a fiber-optic ceiling, were designed but proved untenable given allotted funding. During the interim, the Main Building Multi-Purpose Room was opened as a temporary club space, but many students lamented the absence of the campus hangout.

Bracelet Policy gets stung
The practice of the bracelet policy was brought under scrutiny on Nov. 10, 2006, when a Mug bartender was implicated by a sting operation engineered by the Town of Poughkeepsie Police. According to Oldehoff, a group of plainclothes police officers received Security Officer Betty Francis’ permission to enter the club. An officer wearing a bracelet ordered beers, but his two companions without bracelets drank the purchased alcohol without objection from the bartender. No arrests were made, but the police fined the College $3,000 for negligent enforcement of the I.D. policy.

What’s on tap for the Mug’s future?

Despite funding shortages, the Class of 2006 gift of Mug renovation will begin this summer. The execution of the Senior Class Gift is overseen by the Campus Activities Office each year; Executive Director of Campus Activities and Senior Class Advisor Teresa Quinn stated that although little has been added to the resources at Campus Activities’ disposal, the three-part Mug blueprint will hopefully be realized within the coming months. The first objective of the project is to move the DJ booth nearer to the entrance of the club in order to expand and update the bar area. The other components of the plan include enhanced sound and lighting systems. Campus Activities was able to gain additional funding that will go towards new furniture.

“Having been here throughout the Mug’s history, I know firsthand how important the Mug has become to Vassar life,” said Quinn. “We support students’ wishes in regards to the Mug, and if the students want a bar and dance space, then we will continue to provide it.” So party on, Mug Rats.