Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Redecorating Suggestion for Hoya’s

Redecorating Suggestion for Hoya’s

By Jeff DeMartino Salad Days

So GUSA’s having an art contest. You paint it, they’ll judge it. The winner gets to have their painting hung in Hoya’s.

How about an Applebee’s sign?

Because that’s how bad things have gotten. And there’s not even a Fajita Night.

Last year, Hoya’s reached its all-time peak. Student bartender night packed the place every Thursday, and Hoyas would actually stick around for Friday and Saturday night too.

But in a tumultuous VH1 “Behind the Music” descent, Hoya’s turned Tombstone when university administrators pulled the plug. Under-21 students who wanted to attend Hoya’s on Thursday and other student-sponsored event nights were sent away. In effect, more than three-quarters of the student population could not go to student nights at the student bar.

“This takes care of the underage drinking problem and the overcrowding problem,” said Associate Dean of Students Bethany arlowe.

Uh, OK. I guess I’ll go have a Shirley Temple at Champs.

And since there’s nowhere else to go, freshmen and sophomores make a weekly descent to M Street bars. I’d like to bring the deans and student programmers down to show them what happens when campus closes its doors. You think Hoya’s was overcrowded? Sketchy? Try rubbing elbows with the unctuous illiterati who roam the streets.

Since the administration’s solution has driven our campus bar dry, they have once again tried to separate the quaffers from those who would socialize with them.

University policy mandates that this year’s Homecoming dance have a separate area for drinking students. Non-drinking students cannot enter. Students with drinks cannot leave. This “beer garden” will gather moss almost as fast as Hoya’s. An of-age star chamber does nothing for students who want to socialize with all of their peers. What happened to unity?

Ask the Alumni Association. Homecoming tailgating used to be one of the most unifying experiences at Georgetown. But it got the boot after 1996. The Alumni Association web page has a terse statement on parties during the game: “Alcohol Policy – Alcohol may be consumed outdoors only at university scheduled events. No alcoholic beverages are allowed on Kehoe Field. Kegs will not be permitted in Lot 3 at any point during the weekend.”

Whither our great event? Last year, when the Alumni Association threw a buffet picnic on Copley Lawn, it was dismal. The few people who were there looked as forlorn as when Peter Brady when he gussied up for that party he threw on “The Brady Bunch” and nobody came. (“Uh,” one of Peter’s chubby peers lied, “I think I’ve got a piano lesson Saturday night.”)

We’ve got peace, for sure, but not much in the way of love or understanding. Administrators try to program – they really do – but when the “A” question comes up they get all mealy mouthed:

“It’s up to the students whether Hoya’s is a popular spot or not,” said Jeannie Quirk, food and beverage director for the Conference Center at Leavey Center, in the Sept. 3 edition of The Hoya. “We have tried to make it a comfortable restaurant that offers bar drinks” (Hoya’s Bar Gets Facelift; Familiar Look Is Gone,” page 1).

Comfortable for Med Center doctors, perhaps – and their deathly ill patients.

Midnight Madness is Oct. 15. Late Night at Leavey is passable. But three nights of programming a year doesn’t cut it.

I’ll understand administrators when they stop dreaming that students are as old and sober as they are. And I might let them in on a secret, too – when I’m skipping campus on Saturday night, I’m not going to play the piano.

I’ll see you at the Tombs.

Salad Days appears Fridays in The Hoya.

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