By Nicole Kobie
How does a four-minute meeting turn into a four-hour long discussion? Simple: mention the words “Den” and “closure” in the first meeting, and involve the Students’ Union in the second.
Last Wed., Oct. 9, members of the SU briefly met with University of Calgary Vice-President Finance and Services Phyllis Heaphy concerning recent violent incidents at the campus bar. After delivering an official letter to SU President Matt Stambaugh, she apparently suggested in the impromptu meeting that the Den was at risk of having its access to the university’s liquor license revoked.
“I only asked them to roll back the hours,” claimed Heaphy. “But I think the changes they made are excellent ones.”
While the letter only required the SU to roll back last call, the SU took additional preventative action. Over the long-weekend, off-campus patrons were charged a $5 cover and were required to be signed in by a U of C student. As well, drink prices were significantly increased.
“I hope our sudden uproar showed our level of interest in keeping it safe, and how seriously we take it,” said Stambaugh.
There were no violent incidents Thursday or Friday last week.
“Friday sales were down, but we can’t compare it as it was a long weekend and lots of people leave campus,” noted SU General Manager Bryan Pryde at the meeting.
On average, 400 off-campus customers visit the bar every Friday; this past Friday about 360 paid the $5 cover while 50 patrons were turned away because they did not have a student to sign them in.
However, the actions taken were considered temporary and expected to hold the SU over until this Tuesday’s Students’ Legislative Council meeting. Also invited to the meeting as experts were SU Food, Beverage and Events Director Greg Stephenson and Den Day Manager Steve Rasberry. After hours of discussion Tuesday night, the new Den rules were laid out.
By an SLC resolution, non-students will now pay a $2 cover on Thursday nights and a $5 cover on Friday nights. This section brought argument on the definition of a student, and whether or not the differentiated covers would lead to an increase in non-students visiting the bar on Thursdays and Saturdays. As most Saturdays are club or team sponsored cabarets, that night was not legislated.
A maximum of two non-students may be signed in by each U of C student on weekends.
It was generally agreed that the non-students were the trouble-makers. Rasberry told an anecdote about last Thursday’s Den. According to him, 60 kegs of beer were consumed by students in just eight hours, without any violent incidents.
“Students have a common bond,” he explained. “The atmosphere just changes on Fridays,” with the increase of non-student patrons.
Security staff, such as bouncers, will be increased for the days in question. Already, paid-duty officers from Calgary Police Services–similar to having extra police officers at sporting events–have been used.
“We’ve started that on Friday nights, and it’s working just fine to supplement the Campus Security officers,” said Campus Security Manager Lanny Fritz.
More importantly to some students, beer and highballs will return to their regular prices. This was met with some disagreement.
“Alcohol pricing breeds responsibility,” said Stephenson at the meeting. “We heard a lot of comments about the higher prices, but we need to find the balance between safety and making money.”
“In a bar, it’s too much to expect that any proactive initiative will prevent everything,” said Fritz.
That doesn’t, however, mean the Den is doomed to disappear. Even if violence is inevitable and another patron or employee ends up in hospital, Heaphy likely will not revoke the liquor license.
“There would be a possibility, if violence were to continue, but I think that with the steps that have been taken, [revoking the license] won’t happen,” explained Heaphy. “We’re not at that point, I don’t think, and some incidents are unavoidable. We’d have to look at the circumstances.” She added that should she find it necessary to take such action, it would not happen in an “unadvised manner. Though it now seems like a slim possibility, a Den closure would wreak havoc on the SU’s budget. If both the Den and Black Lounge shut down, the SU potentially loses $300,000 in revenue; if all of MacEwan Hall is liquor free, an additional $200,000 could be lost through concerts and events. The Den accounts for $2.5 million of the SU’s roughly $7 million annual budget.
“This organization is not entirely dependent on alcohol,” explained Pryde to SLC. “But other services might not be enough to keep the entire SU going, at the same scale.”
“If we lose our license, there’s no money left,” explained Stephenson during the meeting. “I get my pink slip.”
Even before this incident, the SU had considered getting its own liquor license, which the Mount Royal College Students’ Association is currently attempting.
“The SU would be the first name, but the university would still be liable,” explained U of C VP Academic and Chair of the Alcohol Policy Committee Peggy Patterson, adding that the University would have to co-sign the liquor license anyway.
Should the liquor license be revoked, various members of the SU proposed possible reactions. Stambaugh promised a battle.
“This is a bar near and dear to my heart. Imagine the rage of students,” he ranted of any revocation. “I loathe to see the university make that mistake. It would be their downfall. I’ll direct a vanguard of student energy to this, and to tuition, too.”
Compared to off-campus bars–and contrary to an Oct. 12 story in the Calgary Herald–the Den is not considered violent.
“In the real world, we’d keep doing things the way we’ve been doing them,” said Rasberry.
“We’re feeling all the wrath,” said Pryde. “We receive all the attention and all the incidents are viewed as a result of the Den and Black Lounge.”
According to Patterson, there has been marked improvements in Den safety over the past year–the first year the Den has been owned and operated by the SU.
“There have been amazing improvements,” she said. “I think that the SU should get a lot of credit for actions they took. All their efforts, and the efforts of Campus Security, have paid off.”
“There’s a huge difference between now and then,” explained Fritz. “Both the old Den and Max’s were half the capacity of the Den.”
“The Den used to be at the bottom of the pile,” explained Pryde. “When we took over the Den, we knew this would be the result. Once the worst place on campus disappeared, we knew we’d take its place.”