The Real Truth about South Side Cafe

As many have seen and heard, there has been plenty of conversation through the Swinging Bridge and word of mouth that changes are happening with the South Side Café (SSC). The Student Government Association (SGA) is grateful for the opportunity to clarify some of the information that you have been given which may not have been completely accurate.This past Fall, SGA sent out a survey to the entire student body to determine what exactly students want from the café. During this survey, 81% of students agreed that the SSC should be a place for students to hang out that has food available to purchase, and that same amount stated that they would not at all want the café to stop selling food. Also, nearly 60% of students who took the survey responded that they would support SGA using a part of the $115 Student Activities Fee that students pay each semester and using that towards the café. Using these numbers, we determined that while the SSC has not been able to make a profit, it has benefited the students on campus, and students want the café to remain as a service to them.

That being said, SGA has also recognized that our mission and purpose is to be advocates for the needs and wants of students on campus, and we are not the most qualified group on campus to run a business. We also felt that much of our time was being devoted to the café, and that we could be using this time in a much better way to serve the students. Therefore, with a unanimous vote from Student Forum, SGA decided that Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) would be much more qualified to run the café.

SIFE is an organization on campus, and worldwide, that focuses on leadership, entrepreneurship, and business, making them the best choice to take on this new venture on campus for their own benefit and for the benefit of the café.

"The SIFE team members are normally students with a head for business and a heart for service. SIFE students have a number of projects in Harrisburg, local elementary and high schools and have helped people start businesses and improve their standard of living around the world. I am involved because I am thrilled that students are able to gain experiential learning to augment what they have learned in the classroom," explained SIFE advisor Professor Terry Earhart. This is clearly a great opportunity for SIFE students to implement the entrepreneurial skills that they have learned into a real business situation.

As many people know, when a business is handed over to new management, as the café is, the debt of that business should be paid off so that the new management has a fair chance of making it successful. As this debt of $15,000 is the debt of SGA, not SIFE, and to ensure proper business practices are being used, Student Forum voted unanimously to support this transition with the payment of $15,000 to zero the account, as well as provide the café with the $5,000 per semester that it will need to run without going into debt, but to still run as a service provided to students.

Professor Earhart commented, "It would also be very difficult for me to hold the students accountable to be self-sustaining when they start next year with a huge negative balance. It was a wise and correct business decision made by SGA."

Jacob Specht, a member of SIFE, is the student and visionary behind this project, along with Professor Earhart. This is one of many ventures that Jacob has taken on, in addition to TextBookTerminal.com, an online marketplace where Messiah students can buy and sell their textbooks. Jacob explained to me the importance of SGA paying off this debt, as the café will not be able to make the money necessary to do so.

What Jacob explains is the problem is that SSC has a debt of $15,000 that it owes to Messiah College. The idea of not paying this off means that we would forever owe the college $15,000 so that we are able to spend money in other places and further increase programming on campus. This, in Jacob's mind, is "an awful way to manage your finances, and you will end up in a financial disaster." Jacob's response to the many false rumors on campus? "I just want to see the café succeed."

Student Forum apparently shares these feelings. It is important to note that Student Forum, the group that made all of these decisions for SSC, is a body that is made of student representatives and is in place to make decisions on behalf of the student body. Among this group are representatives from residence halls, different class levels, and commuters, along with the presidents of many clubs on campus such as the Agape Center, SAB, the Swinging Bridge, and many more. We feel that this was an appropriate group to make this decision because it is representative of our student body and because we have other organizations' input. All members that were at Student Forum voted in favor of making this change for the future of SSC.

What we hope to see in the café is a space that students will be able to call their own. We hope that it is a service to the student body, as well as a great learning experience for the SIFE team. We also would love to see other clubs and organizations on campus taking advantage of the space as a location for various events. It is our hope that if students have any questions or concerns regarding the café, or any other issues surrounding this, that they would bring them to SGA's attention. We want to hear them!

Please send your emails to SGA@messiah.edu or come visit our office upstairs in the Larsen Student Union. Also, if you are interested in being a part of these sorts of decisions, please consider joining Student Forum next fall.