As part of the campus beautification projects currently being done to Ashland University, a planned cafe will be added to the Archer Library. This cafe will have the potential to have alcohol on the menu.

The opening of this cafe has the possibility of causing a problem for dining services.

General Manager of Dining Operations, Frederick Geib believes that the current staff shortage across all dining services might be made worse by spreading their resources even thinner.

“We don’t even have enough workers for our multiple locations on campus,” said Geib, who is currently filling as late-night supervisor at convo, due to a job opening that they are struggling to fill.

The cafe would be added to the list of the many places students can get food on campus including, Convo, Eagles’ Nest, Schar Cafe, COBE Cafe, and Tuffy’s Smoothie Bar.

Geib believes that there is a “stigma” surrounding working in places like the Eagles’ Nest or Convo.

Amanda Rodrigues, a manager at The Eagles’ Nest, believes that the stigma is unfounded because everyone that she works with enjoys their job.

Geib also mentioned that they plan on having the Eagles’ Nest open for more hours on Saturdays.

If the plan for the cafe comes through then this would not be the first time alcohol has been sold on campus.

In the 1970s, there was a bar in the basement of the building that is now the Patterson Instructional Technology Center.

The Bar was called The Ratskeller and was available to both faculty and students.

It is unclear why The Ratskeller was closed but it was closed by 1984 when the legal drinking age was raised to 21 years.

Geib is not concerned about having alcohol on campus because the cafe will not have a bar atmosphere and workers would be able to prevent underage drinking.