Abby Ferguson, Campus Carrier Staff Reporter
Some students have expressed interest in adding a juice bar in the Cage Athletic Center.
A new proposal brought before SGA by a group of athletes is asking for a juice bar to go up in the concession stand on the main floor of the Cage. The concession stand is currently only used for weekend athletic events, leaving it empty throughout the week.
The proposal suggests turning this unused space into a juice bar to provide students with a sweet snack or reenergizer after a workout.
Like the food court in Krannert and Java City, the juice bar would accept Flex Bucks, making it a quick and convenient stop.
The idea of a juice bar was part of the original plans for the Cage Center, but because of costs and budgeting, it was ultimately deemed “nice to have, not critical to have,” said Vice President of Student Affairs, Debbie Heida, and it was never built.
This spring, a group of senior athletes approached SGA to request that the idea be reconsidered. Since that time, the SGA Vice President for Service, sophomore Will Howell, has taken the lead in making the juice bar a reality. The driving force behind the creation of a juice bar, however, will be the student body, Howell said. Announcements made at SGA meetings this fall have produced little student response as of yet, and until a reasonable student interest has been shown, little more can be done.
The lack of student initiative in picking up the project is inconsistent with most student responses when asked their opinion on a juice bar.
“It’s a great idea,” said junior marketing and management major Collin Young.
As long as the juice bar is still just an idea, though, facts and figures about costs and logistics are remaining scarce, and likely will be until more students are willing to take the initiative to push the project forward.
“It would be a good idea, but you also don’t want to be pumping money into it if it’s not going to be effective,” said Young.
To make sure that does not happen, part of the research that will hopefully soon be underway will include talking with professors in the business department to find out exactly what it would take to make the juice bar a financial success, Heida said.
It is not yet clear who exactly would operate and run it, if it were created. Aramark provides Berry’s dining services, but it might also be possible to make the juice bar part of Student Enterprises.
The project may also be given to someone in the entrepreneurship class which allows students to start their own businesses and make it purely student-owned and operated.
For now, the proposal has been referred to the Student Affairs Committee of SGA for further research. This committee has been an inactive part of SGA for the last few years and has been resurrected this fall to deal with proposals like the juice bar. Both SGA members and student body members sit on the committee, although it will be led by an SGA member.
So far progress has been slow in coming, but Howell hopes with a few more weeks and a little more student awareness, the plan will move forward.
Students can contact SGA if they wish to become involved or have an opinon on the issue. Students are needed to help act on this idea.