Dear Administration and Stakeholder of the Gardens:
I am writing to express my opinion concerning the shutdown of the Union Gardens at the end of this academic semester. Given my background in epidemiology and public health, I feel I approach this issue with a different lens than most.
First, I will address the public reasoning behind the shutdown: finances. Having read various articles and statements, I have confidence that the Gardens is in the red and not covering its operating costs. However, I firmly believe this is because of a lack of knowledge of the Gardens existence, and Mr. Eric Webb (Director of Residence Life & Dining Services) seems to echo as much in the March 26 article published by the Branding Iron. He also stated that there is a university policy not to advertise the existence of a bar on campus. This is essentially a poisonous pill for the operation of the Gardens. Many students I have spoken to, of legal drinking age, were surprised to find out about such an establishment on campus. By having this unofficial policy, it sets this establishment up for economic failure—as the current circumstances demonstrate.
Secondly, as a public health professional, I am an advocate for measures that protect public health. As an undergraduate here at the university, I attempted to change the current tobacco-smoking policies to make this a smoke-free campus. With that said, I feel the Gardens has a positive public health impact on this community. This may seem to be an odd statement given the number of studies that link consumption of alcoholic beverages to negative health outcomes. However, when consumed in acceptable quantities with good practices, there seems to be positive effects on health outcomes. The practices in place at the Gardens are, I would argue, the best in Laramie. I am on the upper end of the age of students on campus and still am carded every time I order a beer from the Gardens. Additionally, in my six years on this campus (all of which were of legal drinking age), I have never seen an overly intoxicated individual at the Gardens. I would wager that the Gardens is the safest commercial environment to responsibly consume alcoholic beverages within this county, if not the state. This establishment should be the cornerstone for the university to teach safe and responsible drinking practices. I fear closure of the Gardens could have a negative impact overall on this community.
I implore you to reconsider the stance on the Gardens. If the true reason is fiscally based, consider proper advertising and other measure to increase revenue of this venue. However, if this decision is based on an attempt to change the drinking culture on this campus, I fear it will have the opposite effect as intended.
Respectfully,
Noah Hull, MPH
PhD Student
