A student-run cooperative building at UC San Diego called the Che Cafe Collective may shut down after 34 years of \u201cnon-profit business operations\u201d and rock n\u2019 roll because it\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0always pay its rent and can\u2019t afford needed safety repairs.<\/p>\n
According to reports from the\u00a0USCD Guardian<\/span><\/a>,<\/i>\u00a0student management has failed to keep the building up to fire and other safety codes and often fails to pay rent to the University Center.<\/span><\/p>\n Student employees of the Che Cafe, which is named after the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, claim that it is the responsibility of the university, not the cafe, to pay for upkeep.<\/span><\/p>\n The Che Cafe is a low-budget operation that harnesses volunteer manpower and hosts events throughout the school year such as No Mic Open Mic Night. Che Cafe\u2019s\u00a0Blogspot<\/span><\/a>\u00a0describes the event as \u201cno drugs, no alcohol, no bullsh*t, no complaining, no mics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Che Cafe hosts shows and other gigs for \u201cexorbitantly low prices,\u201d which doesn\u2019t help their lack-of-income problem.<\/span><\/p>\n Even those enchanted with the idealism of the commie-styled business model realize that it\u2019s not practical, notes the campus student newspaper in an editorial appropriately headlined: \u201cIn The Red.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The piece described the venue as a \u201cmoney pit consistently plagued with safety issues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhile, of course, we\u2019re all for the idea of student-run collectives providing competitively priced goods and services, it doesn\u2019t seem like a good strategy in the midst of such pressing financial problems \u2014 particularly when this translates into ignoring rent obligations,\u201d\u00a0writes the Guardian\u2019<\/em>s Editorial Board<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Some say the Che Cafe is a cultural institution with historical value and a unique sober atmosphere, worth pouring almost $1 million in needed investments to keep the place open. Others see it as nothing more than a generally disused space.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMany students also don\u2019t realize that the money being spent on the cafe\u2019s renovation comes directly from student fees; in other words, we are collectively pouring almost one million dollars of our money into repairing a cooperative that the vast majority of us don\u2019t even use,\u201d the\u00a0Guardian\u00a0<\/i>argued.<\/span><\/p>\n Last year, UC San Diego students voted against a tuition increase of $11 per quarter which would have gone toward necessary renovations for heavily trafficked student centers. One can only assume the majority of students would be against student fees going toward a space visited by only 17 percent of students.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet the University Center\u2019s Advisory Board members were surprised to see a lawyer representing the Che Cafe Collective at a recent student-run meeting to discuss the co-op\u2019s future, at which supporters of the venue stormed the room and pleaded for it to be kept open.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were kind of blindsided; in the meeting, we were supposed to meet with just students,\u201d Sammy Chang, UCAB Chair, told the\u00a0Guardian<\/i>. \u201cThe Che Cafe has made this into a legal issue. We can\u2019t talk anymore \u2014 we have to talk in front of attorneys.\u201d<\/p>\n The next input meeting was slated for May 19, at which UCAB members were expected to bring along UCSD legal counsel on their behalf. Chang expects voting will take place at a later date, with Monday\u2019s meeting solely devoted toward further public input.<\/p>\n In an interview Friday with\u00a0The College Fix,<\/i>\u00a0UCSD administration claimed they were not aware of the upcoming vote nor were they sure who oversees the student-run co-op.<\/span><\/p>\n As for the proponents of the Che Cafe, they are going against the advice of the cafe\u2019s namesake by lobbying the University Center\u2019s Advisory Board and bringing an attorney to argue on their behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n Reminder \u2013 the KGB-mentored Che Guevara preached:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYouth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates! Instead they must dedicate themselves to study, work and military service!\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n College Fix contributor\u00a0Lauren<\/span>\u00a0Cooley is a 2014 graduate of Furman University.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Like The College Fix<\/em> on Facebook<\/a> \/ Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n