Though Postcrypt Coffeehouse, a student-run music venue, faces continuing challenges from administration, members say that the organization is now turning to fundraising for its survival.
At the end of last year, administrators met with Postcrypt to inform the group that they would be required to add an additional alcohol proctor and hire a security guard for each night of operation. The Office of Student Group Advising was concerned about underage drinking at weekend concerts, though members have repeatedly denied that alcohol is sold to minors. Postcrypt student managers feared last semester that the new administrative regulations would be an unbearable financial burden, potentially threatening the coffeehouse’s historic location in St. Paul’s Chapel, or even its existence.
“We were wondering whether or not we could even come back this semester,” Galen Boone, BC ’12 and incoming manager, said.
But now, after further talks with administrators and new plans for fundraising, Boone said she is hopeful that Postcrypt will be able to stay afloat—though with several significant changes.
“We’re not going to be selling alcohol,” Boone said. “We might get to sell alcohol for one weekend just to try to recoup some of the money we lost when they dumped all of our excellent beer. … But for next semester if we choose to sell alcohol, we have to have a public safety officer there, and that’s not feasible for us financially.”
Boone said that for the remainder of this year, despite the fact that the coffeehouse is not serving alcohol, it will have to pay for a security guard, which costs $220 a night.
“We’re not a space for inebriation, we’re a space for folk music,” Boone said.
University Chaplain Jewelnel Davis, who has been at Columbia for 14 years, said that in recent months there have been several instances of disruption involving the music venue.
“There’s turnover in every student group, and we’ve had students who have been in charge of the coffeehouse who have been excellent occupants and sharers of this space ... where there have been no incidents,” Davis said. “But now we find ourselves in the situation where public safety and the advisors are meeting with the students because they aren’t able to control the room.”
Raquel Whittaker, assistant director of Earl Hall and liaison to student groups with the chaplain’s office, said that it is important that Postcrypt respects other activities in the building. “What I don’t think a lot of people understand ... is that while the Postcrypt Coffeehouse is at one end of the building, there’s a worship service happening at this end,” she said, adding that when “people are becoming rowdy and disrespectful to the building and to others who are using the building ... that becomes a concern.”
Whittaker said that the security guard is still important for now, even if alcohol is no longer being sold. “Whether or not they consume all the alcohol during their time in the coffeehouse, or whether they consume alcohol before, alcohol is a leading factor to why there was some disruption going on.”
Last Friday, the Office of the University Chaplain met with Postcrypt to discuss some of these issues.
Devora Aharon, CC ’10 and chair of the Student Governing Board, which doles out money to campus groups, helped facilitate talks between Postcrypt and the administration. Aharon said that the administrative perception of the coffeehouse has not always been accurate.
“I don’t know if it was just the assumption that an event with alcohol would need security concerns,” Aharon said. “Most events with alcohol are security concerns, but Postcrypt is a really unique group and a really unique event. ... I think there might have been a lack of familiarity with the way that Postcrypt really operates.”
Since Postcrypt does not charge admission to concerts, and since the coffeehouse’s main source of revenue—beer—is no longer an option, Boone said she is worried about how the cost of security will be met.
She said the coffeehouse has reached out for support from the Office of Student Group Advising, which is giving a grant to cover the cost of some nights, and has discussed co-sponsorship opportunities with the Columbia Queer Alliance and the Columbia Bartending Agency.
Boone said that if students sign up for spring classes in either wine tasting or bartending with the bartending agency, they can request that half of their tuition goes to support Postcrypt.
She also hopes that the security guard requirement, which she sees as unnecessary, will be lifted by next year.
But there have been some positive changes, she said.
The group had to remove its electrical appliances, including its lighting, to bring the coffeehouse in line with the chapel’s fire code—another stumbling block last semester. But a gift from the chaplain allowed the group to light the space both legally and elegantly, Boone said. “She actually gave us beautiful, flameless LED candles made out of wax, so we have great light in the space now.”
Though Boone is just trying to get the coffeehouse back to smooth operations, she said this year will also be an opportunity to expand, maybe with larger music festivals.
“We still don’t have normalcy back. It does feel weird, and it’s sad, but I have so much optimism because we’re getting so much support from people who had never heard of us,” Boone said. “We’re just reaching out to everyone. … This could be a good thing just for building a folk community on the Upper West Side.”
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