Patrons of the Jabberwocky Caf could be facing some changes.

The ‘Cuse Project originally focused on turning the former location of Konrad’s Sports Bar into a coffee house setting where students could come in, read poetry, speak publicly, or just hangout, said Joe Giordano, one of the ‘Cuse Project’s organizers. Now, they hope to accomplish that in the basement of Schine Student Center.

Giordano said the impetus for the project was due to there not being a local venue for students to go for free.

When Bridget Talbot, director of student center/programming services, found out about the project, the ‘Cuse Project took a new direction. Talbot noticed the ‘Cuse Project and the Jabberwocky Caf had the same goal: To provide a free venue for student expression.

‘The idea of the ‘Cuse project and the idea of the Jabberwocky is very, very close,’ said Dennis Jacobs, a sophomore majoring in television, radio and film, and president of the University Union.

Jacobs said the ‘Cuse project has turned its focus to using the Jabberwocky Caf to create a new venue for students.

The ‘Cuse project did not decide to remove their attention from Konrad’s old spot because of plans for a new bar in the building, Jacobs said. Instead, the group decided to focus on bringing their ideas directly to campus.

‘We completely forgot about Konrad’s and tried to focus everything to doing it on campus,’ Jacobs said. ‘It’s not really a Plan B, it’s a Plan Only.’

There have also been talks of renovating Jabberwocky Caf in the future, but not anytime soon, Jacobs said.

‘I think, and UU thinks as well, that it would be amazing if (Jabberwocky) was made larger somehow,’ Jacobs said. ‘The renovation is already really new, so we would change it a little bit.’

If construction begins on the Jabberwocky Caf, the ‘Cuse Project plans on increasing the capacity of the caf by extending it into the Ludwig Lounge, Giordano said. The group also came up with plans to enlarge the Waverly Avenue entrance to Jabberwocky.

The ‘Cuse Project plans to have architecture or interior design students make the blueprints for the renovation, Giordano said.

‘If you have students build it, students will want to go there because students know what students want,’ Giordano said.

Until construction begins, the ‘Cuse Project plans to keep the Jabberwocky Caf open until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday to make it an alternative to the bars, Giordano said.

‘Our immediate goal is to get students down there, to have them realize there is this space on campus,’ Jacobs said.

To secure funding for the renovation, the ‘Cuse Project hopes to persuade the administration to fund the renovation, but the group has not spoken to Chancellor Nancy Cantor yet, Giordano said.

‘We feel that the school has a vested interest in doing this for its students, so we’d expect the school to throw some money towards it,’ Giordano said.

Giordano is not sure where all the funds for the ‘Cuse Project will come from, but he did say part of the funding could come from the student fee.

‘We’re really hoping that this works, we really are,’ Jacobs said. ‘We’re trying to provide another venue for students to take advantage of and by doing so we really hope that it will increase the arts in school.’

Published on October 31, 2004 at 12:00 pm