St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, but there’s no place to grab a green beer with friends on campus.
“I feel like drinking is a part of the uni-college experience,” said psychology student Sarah Azaner.
Beer was an option until 2017 when the North Campus pub LinX stopped serving alcohol due to poor sales.
The pub decided to do away with the beers in favour of board games, later rebranding as Cafe Linx and selling $1 coffee to increase foot traffic.
That left The Humber Room as the only place on campus that’s licensed to serve alcohol.
But the fine-dining restaurant is closed for St. Patrick’s Day, due to classes for hospitality and management students, officially leaving no options for other students to drink on March 17.
Mia Dicicco said with all the stresses of being a student, such as tests and assignments, it would be fun to have a place to blow off steam “because honestly, people just having fun in that environment just makes everyone feel better,” she said.
Students who spoke with Humber News suggested they’d be heading to Fionn McCool’s in Brampton, or Spice Lounge and Tapas in Mississauga’s Port Credit neighbourhood.
Some people seem indifferent towards having drinking options on campus.
Melissa Heinrich, an aesthetician and spa management student, said she’s focused on her education as a priority.
“Why would you get sloshed and then go and write your essay or exam,” she said.
Eze McKay, who is in the same program, also agreed.
“As much fun as it would be to have bars on campus, I don’t think it’s a good vibe for people who are trying to make connections for future jobs.”
While Heinrich said studying is important, she acknowledged the importance of networking and the lack of a pub “holds back the opportunity for people to kind of socialize and interact with each other, especially with COVID.”