Should Syracuse University Invest in a 24-Hour Cafe?

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In the final stretch of the semester, all of us are pretty much scrambling to study and get our academic shit together. To do this, we mostly hermit in our rooms till late at night or stay in the campus libraries until close.

But you know what’s frustrating? Being on a roll in your studies, finally being at a good pace, and suddenly having the library or facility you’re working in close. Then, you have to do the walk of academic shame to relocate back to your cluttered dorm and get in the zone all over again. 

So, we’re thinking the same thing as you: why doesn’t Syracuse University have a 24-hour cafe during the last few weeks of finals?

The answer is disappointing, but simple: the lack of employees. 

A good number of employees on this campus are students, and they must be students during finals too. It’s no surprise that students work less during the last stretch of the semester to study for their finals and get their things together. While Syracuse figures out its employee shortage issue, we can start dreaming about our ideal 24-hour study space. 

It would be a nice and cozy place to pop in and get some work done, maybe having a coffee or hot chocolate while doing so. For those studying and working on assignments into the wee hours of the night during these weeks, this would be very convenient for you to have a workspace that isn’t your dorm or bedroom, as it may feel confining and somewhat claustrophobic to constantly hermit within your walls for hours upon hours. 

It would be a respectful space since everyone would be there for the same reason. Friends may sit together and chat about studies, but ultimately it would be a place to do your cramming and to do group study work very late into the night when all the facilities and libraries close. It would also be a place accessible to all students on this campus. 

The thought of having a 24-hour cafe that’s open to students during finals seems completely and totally ideal, but the reality of it happening is very slim, unfortunately. If the facilities on this campus can’t even run at this point, then it would seem illogical to build a cafe just to not find any employees.

Why do you think Pages Cafe in Bird is closed? Because they were understaffed and didn’t have enough people to keep them afloat during business hours. Several great places on this campus have closed or been inoperable because of the lack of employees, and we doubt that students would want to work in a 24-hour cafe that’s constructed to be made for them. 

We believe that a 24-hour cafe on campus would be extremely beneficial to students who are studying and preparing for their finals. The idea is wonderful in theory but implementing it would be easier said than done. This idea can most definitely work if the university is able to find employees willing to work and maintain this facility essentially all day and night.