our L I N K S
McGill ASA Blog
Facebook group
Santropol Fair Trade Coffee
their L I N K S
McGill Ancillary Services
Chartwells
history of the F I G H T
The Daily: Food is more than sustenance
The Daily: What McGill does over the summer
The Tribune: McGill vs. Charity
The Tribune: McGill Bookstore Caf turns Starbucks
you may not K N O W
Student-run initiatives...
(We love and support them)
EUS General Store
Rabbit Hole Cafe
The Midnight Kitchen
Organizations we love...
Gorilla composting
Sustainable McGill
Talk Rethink McGill
Greening McGill
|
what is McGill doing?
Over the summer, McGill Ancillary Services has, out of the blue, declared that we can no longer keep the Architecture cafe open as it is. Ancillary Services is giving us two choices: either to a) give up the Café so it becomes a Chartwells/ Starbucks or b) repatriate the space as a student lounge. Obviously, we want to keep one of McGill's most successful student ventures on campus and running as it has been.
what are the architecture students doing?
The architecture students recognize how important the cafe is to not only our faculty, but also the standard of student life and community at our university.
The managers of the Architecture Cafe, along with the Architecture Students' Association are actively investigating ways to stay open and keep providing our services to the student body.
why is this so important?
We all love our university, but we have to take a stand against Ancillary Services' attempts to undermine student interests in favor of their corporate interests. McGill seems to have forgotten that their primary duty is to provide an environment for students in which we can best benefit from our education. The Architecture cafe is not only a successful extracurricular exercise for our students in business management, but also provides a place for students from all faculties to congregate, socialize, and relax in between classes.
The architecture cafe's success is evidenced by the number of students that fill our space daily, the large lines that form to buy our fair-priced, fair-trade coffee, and the very fact that publications such as MacLean's recognizes us as an important facet of student life. Furthermore, the Architecture cafe has been included in the official McGill tour for years.
what does the arch caf do differently from chartwells?
The architecture cafe has contributed more effectively than other food services provided by McGill to cooperating with student-run environmental organizations and support of small, privately-run businesses in the McGill neighborhood.
One of the best ways in which we are environmentally friendly is in providing fair-priced, fair-trade organic coffee. We have a bring your own mug program. Students who bring their own mugs only pay half the price of regular coffee (50 cents instead of a dollar), reducing paper waste and energy costs. More than half of our customers participate in this.
Furthermore, we are more than willing to cooperate with student-run environmental organizations such as Sustainable McGill, Environmental Action at McGill, and Gorilla Composting. The Architecture cafe composts all of its coffee grounds with Gorilla composting.
Also, all of our suppliers are small businesses in the student ghetto. We are giving back to the Montreal business community and this way, we can provide fair prices that are affordable for students.
The Architecture Café is also a unique experience for students in our faculty to exercise their design skills and learn about managing a business.
what can I do?
Right now, we want students to support the actions we take and voice their opinion to the community. Go to our
Facebook group and Blog to give us your take on what's happening, ideas and advice are always more than welcome! We recognize that this should not only be a fight from within the School of Architecture, but a university-wide fight!
But most importantly, raise awareness for our cause! More information to come...
|
