Because of improving admissions policies, the number of freaks existing on the fringes of our University has increased.
I am talking about the kind of freaks that would feel at home at the previous independently run Coffeehouse. The demand for an authentic hotspot of counter-culture on the premises of an ever more corporate Duke has never been higher.
Yet, it is now that Gregg Heinselman turns the place over to the Duke University Union. Under the management of Andy Kay, the Coffeehouse will probably cease to sell coffee. (Are they going to call it the House?) Most likely, it won’t even open unless there is a Union program happening.
I am not going to defend the former management of the Coffeehouse. As an ambitious freshman with affinity for the alternative scene and a work-study requirement, I e-mailed John Haubenreich (then in charge), and just like OSAF, I never even received a reply. Maybe I was not cool enough.
Maybe he was too strung out to operate Outlook Express.
On one level, it is understandable that the Coffeehouse crowd tried to minimize their interaction with the rest of Duke. Their eccentric lifestyles and quirky music tastes were not appreciated by the overwhelming majority of their peers. Keep in mind that when the class of ’04 arrived at Duke, they encountered a much more greek-centered school than current freshmen have.
The crowd was disillusioned and disenfranchised, and rather shunned Duke than that they would reply to an e-mail from OSAF. But I do not want to defend the undefendable—management was poor. Gregg was absolutely and unequivocally entitled to intervene, and his choice of the Union as the new management is understandable.
The Union has proven to be a solid bedrock of campus life and student-oriented entertainment in particular. I am sure the bookkeeping of the Coffeehouse, and the venue itself, will be clean under the reign of Kay.What I am worried about is the homogenization of campus options. By making it open to all—as the Union idealistically claims to be its policy—the Coffeehouse will no longer be open to its original constituency.
The Union is trying to have the Coffeehouse cake and eat it, too. Encouraged by the Sept. 17 staff editorial in The Chronicle, the Union will try to preserve the Coffeehouse’s heritage through involvement of the very people they displaced. As Micah Schnorr so pointedly observed, the Union’s approach constitutes an attempt at co-optation of the coolness of the Coffeehouse.
And, as so often is the case, it leaves the co-opted powerless.
Let me give some advice to the three parties involved in the showdown. OSAF should acknowledge that for the sake of diversity on campus, the Coffeehouse would ideally be run by students that are part of the underground culture. That is the only way through which authenticity of the venue can be guaranteed.
Perhaps Heinselman could open up an application process, where students can propose structures for the management of the Coffeehouse. Anyone could apply—not only the previous managing entity and the Union, but also newer initiatives like the highly successful Pink Tower collective. The winning plan should be chosen with both the Coffeehouse’s legacy as well as the need for accountability in mind.
The Union, meanwhile, should do everything in its power not to alienate the freaks that rightfully feel the place is theirs. If there are job available, they should get preference. If events clash, groups that have historically used the Coffeehouse should get preference.
Finally, the eccentric Coffeehouse freaks should do everything to keep the site the last outpost of counterculture on our country club campus. Up the frequency of events, claim the space as yours by going there as often as possible, be vocal about your concerns, and defy the smoking ban.
Civil disobedience is a time-tested method, my comrades.
At the same time, you should work on a rock-solid proposal that you can present to Gregg Heinselman and his minions—whether solicited or unsolicited. Duke has put its money where its mouth is before in matters of diversity, so you have a good story to pitch.
If the three parties do not listen to me, I foresee a bleak future. Duke will once again rise to the top of the “alternative lifestyles not an alternative” charts, East Campus will have two competing latte-factories and the colorful alternative crowd will be forced into Diaspora in Durham.
Let’s not let that happen.
Joost Boosland is a Trinity junior.
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