Time and again York students have bemoaned the poor quality and value provided by Commercial Services’ college bars. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to my closest campus bar, V-Bar, for a few drinks before a night out or for a casual evening drink (and most of those were during Freshers week when I barely knew anywhere else).
Campus bars simply are not competitive enough when put up against The Courtyard, The Charles, and the likes of Dusk, The Lowther and Nag’s Head in town. For years, Commercial Services have been entirely uncooperative with student demands price-wise. However, this looks set to change next year, as the powers that be finally seem to be listening to the pleas of our college chairs, as new plans outline price drops in college bars.
This is coupled with a much needed refurbishment of V-Bar which from early plans looks set to move away from its current unattractive ‘wooden-canteen look’ to a ‘modern pub-feel’, which has been welcomed by the Vanbrugh JCRC. The Courtyard is so popular because it is the cheapest bar on campus and its decor is welcoming; the complete opposite to the dingy, half-empty college bars. Don’t get me wrong, I’m probably one of The Courtyard’s biggest fans. I can be found a few times a week sat in the bar area feasting over a pint of Carlsberg and a packet of crisps, and I’ve even managed an ultimate burger at The Charles in the past, but a range of good quality competitive bars can only be a good thing for students. It’s something we’ve been crying out for for years and now that we’ve seen some progress, it’s essential we push on.
Perhaps more successful campus bars could help to convince Commercial Services to take action on YUSU’s campaign of pursuing a social space on Heslington East as well. It’s undoubtedly necessary, and we need to show support for such an idea in any way we can. Ultimately though, much of this argument comes down to college spirit. Collegiate universities are rare and old-fashioned, but the college system is a great asset and characteristic that York should take pride in. As it stands, we’re descending to a point that being in a college is little more than a description of a group of accommodation blocks.
If the initial price changes are successful, it has been mooted that students could be rewarded with “Happy Hour” pre-bar offers such as pints of lager for £1.50, to be trialled before college-organised late-license events, something else that needs rapid change if our college system is to revive itself. College events have suffered at the hands of Commercial Services’ pricing as well, and more vibrant bars at a lower cost to the consumer can only strengthen these events.
Campus bars are chronically underused, both in the case of events, and during normal service hours. At other universities, where the collegiate system is more successful and active, bars play a central part. You only have to look just up the road at Durham to see a collegiate system where students have pride in their college and the bars maintain a key social aspect of that. Bar and event improvements are key to making sure that our colleges do not just become glorified halls of residence.
Hopefully with these changes we will finally see a boost in the numbers at our campus bars, and that can only be a good thing for the college spirit that many see as being in decline. “Support your College Bar” seems to have become a murdered cliché, but I for one will be backing mine next year, and maybe this move can help to give college spirit a much needed new lease of life.