The Union Gardens, the university’s only beer vendor, will likely close at the end of the semester, following an unofficial statement from the UW administration.
Administrators have said the closing is based solely on financial concerns. Some students, however, believe the administrators’ problem with the Gardens has to do with the sale of alcohol. A Facebook page called “Save the Gardens,” as well as a WyoVocal post under the same name are advocating for a student response.
One student said he thinks the problem lies in how beer can, or rather cannot, be advertised on campus.
“It’s not the product they sell,” Ricardo Lind-Gonzalez, a UW student said. “In my speculation, it’s because they can’t advertise alcohol on campus. And by can’t, I mean its not preferred amongst the administration.”
Lind-Gonzalez, a senior in elementary education from Casper, said CSU has alcohol sales on campus and sales benefit from being able to advertise on campus. According to CSU policy, alcohol can be advertised on campus, but only if the ad includes food.
Director of Dining Life Services Eric Webb said it is true alcohol is not advertised on campus, by administrative decision.
“It’s just been university practice; it’s not really a policy,” Webb said.
Webb said the Gardens would close because it does not cover its operating cost. In his estimation, Webb said, beer sales have not been profitable since the bowling alley that was added in a 1957 Union renovation shut down.
“The issue is we’ve been subsidizing it all these years,” Webb said. “It’s just not a good business decision.”
He said the concern does not have to do specifically with subsidizing alcohol sales.
“There’s a concern anytime we subsidize anything,” he said.
In an email message, Webb said the Gardens lost money in each of the last five years: $14,409.66 in fiscal year 2010; $29,195.77 in 2011; $46,672.46 in 2012; $17,490.09 in 2013 and $13,994.96 in 2014.
Lind-Gonzalez said he has not been allowed to see any specifics or numbers because the information is included on “internal documents.”
Other campus facilities, such as Book and Bean in Coe Library and Rendezvous dining facility in Ross Hall, do not require subsidies to operate. Webb said closing facilities on campus for struggling financially is common and the challenges have to do with location and the traffic of commerce.
“One of the challenges the Gardens has is because of the location,” Webb said. “Upstairs, lots of traffic. Downstairs, not so much.”
Lind-Gonzalez said the Gardens provided a safe environment for students and is a positive alternative to other venues where alcohol is served.
“If you go to the bars, they serve hard liquor and I think it’s a lot easier to drink responsibly without that involved,” Lind-Gonzalez said. “It’s a good environment where students can meet with other students and faculty and staff on a good mutual ground.”
While Webb concurred he felt the Gardens was safe, it just is not enough to justify its existence.
“Compared to bars in town, our customers are very responsible,” Webb said. “We have the best customers in town. It’s an economic issue.”
Lind-Gonzalez said tragic events in Laramie over the last year have not helped attitudes toward alcohol sold on campus. In the early hours of November 1 last year, 21-year-old UW student Joseph McGowan attended a Halloween party at a house. According to a police affidavit, a fight broke out and McGowan attempted to intervene. It is alleged that then 20-year-old Dalton Dale Williams of Casper threw a single punch, sending McGowan falling backwards and hitting the back of his head on the sidewalk curb in front of the house. McGowan died from his injuries the next day in a Loveland hospital. Alcohol was said to be a factor in the incident.
UW President Dick McGinity said that event, and another off-campus fight on the same night, would fuel work to prevent alcohol-related incidents in the future, in Wyoming Tribune-Eagle article from November of last year.
Lind-Gonzalez said he plans to attend the Union Board meeting on Monday at 4 p.m. to make his case.
