Yesterday, Goodrich Coffee Bar opened for the year. Goodrich is completely student-organized and student-run, with five students comprising the management team. The management team’s roles include supply, personnel, finances, operations/projects and marketing/outreach/events. The coffee bar returned to Goodrich Hall after a brief stay in Dodd House last year while Goodrich was undergoing renovations. The renovations, which affected the floor and roof, were necessary to strengthen the structural soundness of the building.

While the coffee bar returned to its usual spot, the management team will introduce a few new changes to the operations. There will now be Sunday morning hours from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., whereas last year the coffee bar was only open Monday through Friday. Additionally, they hope “to provide a breakfast option on Sunday mornings so that people can swipe for before brunch,” Kate Latimore ’19, the personnel manager, said.

The coffee bar mainly offers breakfast foods such as bagels and yogurt, as well as coffee, tea and bottled drinks. This semester, they will bring back “cream cheese flavor of the month and some secret new menu items,” Latimore said.

Goodrich also caters school events. They will be catering Homecoming, offering bagels and coffee for purchase. Their website gives more information on catering and how one can request for an event to be catered.

In addition to the food and catering services, Goodrich hosts events throughout the semester. For example, Latimore said students can look forward to boba tea nights on Tuesdays and Stressbusters, a weekly event that offers a respite from academic work and is put on in collaboration with All-Campus Entertainment (ACE), on Wednesdays. In addition to these weekly events, the managers of the coffee bar also plan on collaborating with performing arts groups at the College throughout the semester. One of the hallmarks of Goodrich Coffee Bar is its status as a community space, and this is an aspect of the coffee bar that they will seek to uphold and celebrate throughout the semester.

Latimore said that the community aspect of Goodrich is the best part of working there. She said that the space in Goodrich is more conducive to creating a sense of community than the space in Dodd House. “The coffee bar is smaller, so it’s more integrated into the open seating space,” she said. The setup in Goodrich facilitates more interaction between the customers and the students working at the coffee bar, whereas in Dodd House, the students working were more hidden and physically separated from the customers. Additionally, it is great being “able to work with friends while serving friends and the general student body,” Latimore said.

There are many ways people can get involved in this community. There are 33 members of the Goodrich staff this semester, and they hire “at the beginning of fall semester and at the end of winter study,” Latimore said. If a student wants to get involved, they can access the application through daily messages, the Goodrich Coffee Bar Facebook page or Instagram. Due to the fact that many people go abroad or graduate, spots are always opening up, and students are encouraged to apply if they are interested.

For those who do not want to work at the coffee bar but still want to be involved, Latimore noted that the management team of the coffee bar is receptive to suggestions from not only baristas, but also customers of the coffee bar. She stressed that the team takes these suggestions “seriously because [they] want to make Goodrich as accessible and welcoming as possible.”