Coffee House is so Back

Lucy Wainwright ‘25

If you’ve spent any weekends on campus these past few months, you may have been lucky enough to find yourself in an unusually raucous Hinman reading room during one of the winter coffee houses. Coffee house is far from a new organization at Westminster, having existed in some form or another as a place for students to share their talents for quite some time. However, in recent years, it has lost some of the vibrance and energy I remember experiencing as a Third Former. Crowds often dwindled, and we’d only get one or two a term, if we were lucky. Thankfully, something changed this year.

Perhaps it was the renovation of Keyes Porch that catalyzed the shift. Brand new patio furniture encouraged students to squeeze five to a couch and three to an armchair. The expanded space offered room for a conveniently perfect stage and plenty of seating options. Once students finally attended an event, they realized just how fun it could be to support their classmates, and continued to show up even as the stage was moved to Hinman. 

However, maybe this shift can be credited to co-heads Elise Park ‘25 and Hannah Maltby ‘26 in their decision for the winter venue. In my previous experiences of coffee house, indoor events had been held in the dining hall lobby. While that space offered lots of foot traffic, it was cursed by being far to open. As you can imagine, it was hard to create ‘atmosphere’ in the middle of a Saturday night postgame dinner rush. The decision to move to Hinman created a warmer environment that not only invited more fans, but more performers as well. Instead of a sparse and ever-transient crowd, this year’s coffee houses have retained captive and enthusiastic audiences, leaving standing-room only to take part in this revived tradition. 

​The rebirth of coffee house serves as an example of the importance of supporting all aspects of the Westy community. Athletics and arts can be celebrated at the same time, without one taking away from the other. With less than half of the year to go, I encourage you all to cram into Hinman Reading Room or squeeze onto a couch on Keyes and experience the magic of coffee house for yourself.