Why we Must Save Haven: CUSA’s Lies and Mistakes
CUSA is no stranger to controversy and controversial decisions in recent years. The latest such controversial decision is the closing of Haven [1] which has caused an outpour of support for the café and former bookstore. For those who may not know, Haven was founded by students (originally as “Raven Books”) in 2002, with a consignment program allowing students to make money from selling their used books. It sold to CUSA in 2008 [2]. For the longest time, Haven continued to run as a bookstore, eventually a café, and as a hub for students busy to take a break from the regular hustle and bustle of campus.
Now? Haven is under threat of closure due to what, by the end of this article will be clear, is nothing more than CUSA’s own actions and misrepresentation of the facts. CUSA’s planned replacements for Haven? Nothing more than a patchwork of things they’ve tried before.
The Announcement: The Ordinary Instant
The shutdown of a service like this should take time and consideration. One would expect it to be planned, and notice given to the general public only after the Is have been dotted and the Ts have been crossed. In concern about that I chose to reach out to Ben Kissner, the Events & Programming Coordinator of Haven. According to Kissner, the Haven staff learned of the shutdown first not from CUSA, but instead from “the article in the Charlatan that came out November 15th", and they would proceed to get more information only after the news broke.
A day that staff thought would be like any other, but instead was the beginning of the end for the café. Sure, CUSA has stated plans to “transition Haven’s operations to bring its services directly onto campus”, but that has been without a stated plan, to the public or seemingly internally as “they have yet to expand on that” to the staff as well. If CUSA wanted to do this properly they should have notified staff ahead of time, not started new programs and such when they planned to close it all down by the end of the semester. An ordinary moment turned sour by a sudden shift by CUSA.
The Charlatan Article: Falsehood Flies
The Charlatan published an initial article, giving the explanation of CUSA’s motivations. This article focused on two key points, “accessibility concerns” and the “rising costs”. For that first point, the accessibility concerns, it seemed to lack specifics, and was a bold claim to make. I asked a friend of mine, Maheeshan Sivanesan, a third-year computer science student, and a powered wheelchair user, one that is even recently quoted by the Charlatan for accessibility concerns [3]. According to Sivanesan in my interview, “They got a wooden ramp that’s a bit difficult to use but it gets the job done” and “to install an actual ramp would cost (only) like $500”, if CUSA can spare $100k for renovations, but not $500 for a ramp, it begs the question, who is really at fault for alleged accessibility issues?
As for the rising costs? Well, that needs a deeper analysis,
Budgeting: Reading the Tea Leaves (or Coffee Beans)
Now, as of November 15th, 2024, CUSA has announced the shutdown of Haven based upon, as reported on a CUSA budget presentation, a $228k deficit projected to continue into the coming years [4]. This is where the problem with CUSA’s statement begins.
In the 2023-2024 budget for CUSA [5], Haven’s book sales had a combined $347k of costs and $424k of projected sales across new, used, and eBook sales. The 2024-2025 reports from CUSA “quotes losses of $230k” according to Kissner, which “includes losses from Haven’s book operations”. The losses quoted by CUSA is misleading to readers, as CUSA shut down Haven’s book sales in the 2023-2024 year, leading to liquidation of their inventory. It is a major loss, but a one-off one nonetheless that should not have been included in projections.
According to Kissner, the remaining Haven café business was only “budgeted to lose around $90k this year, and so far, (were) greatly outperforming this budget”, showing possible near-future growth. This near-future growth is even more likely due to a new program, involving an alleged $100k in renovations [6], known as Haven Connect. This launched on October 24th, 2024 [7], and involved rentable meeting rooms and coworking spaces on the second floor of Haven for students and non-students alike. This mimics the rental programs CUSA proposes to use the Haven real estate for, and this program would have made for a good dual-purpose business venture. Less than a full month later, Haven’s shutdown was announced. A possibly profitable venture, which was ended before it could get off the ground.
Replacing Haven: History Often Rhymes
CUSA proposed plans to replace Haven. These plans missed part of the spirit of Haven, planning to reign it in by reinvesting into “creating and expanding student services” on campus [8]. According to CUSA:
- The Wing will introduce grab and go options, despite the fact it is already near multiple vending machines which both have easy Grab and Go options, and Rooster’s with a selection of pre-made options.
- Ollie’s will begin serving breakfast and brunch options in the mornings, a program that already has been tried before.
You don’t have to look any further than the vending machines, the entirely new “Quick Eats” autonomous store, and Rooster’s to know Grab and Go options exist on campus. CUSA’s lack of specification gives little hope for the new offerings.
While nobody at the campus bar Ollie’s has officially commented on the possibility of serving breakfast again, it has a history with staff as being a program that was tried, and which failed to be profitable in the past. The average student can attest to why this hypothetical program wouldn’t be profitable, most students do not arrive onto campus until around 9am, and some not until lunch time, and the residence students already have the dining hall. Haven’s off-campus place encourages students to head to it before their classes, before the long study sessions. CUSA’s replacements offer little in the way of solutions that haven’t been tried, and failed, before.
Conclusion
To make money requires planning, it requires intent, and it requires a leap of faith to some degree. A bookstore shutdown needs notice, and new rental program doesn’t make money in a month. CUSA’s current board have been short-sighted, and it prevented growth and profits for Haven. I encourage anyone reading to sign the petition, Save Haven! [9]. Our student funds were put into Haven Connect and Haven Café, and it deserves an opportunity to flourish. Haven is a great little café; we need to save it.
As for CUSA, if anyone from your organization is reading this, I want to leave you with a quote that may help you with future decision-making:
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” - Sherlock Holmes
To decide the fate of Haven, and then misinterpret the facts to fit the narratives. To tell the public before the employees. To make such a grand decision without clearly considering any perspective outside your own inner-circle. No matter what part you consider, shutting down Haven will be a mistake. There is still time to undo it, not close the café.
To everyone else, sign the petition, make your voices heard, make sure CUSA hears us, Save Haven.
[1] https://charlatan.ca/haven-to-close-after-projected-cusa-deficits/
[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20240528223243/https://havenconnect.ca/pages/history
[3] https://charlatan.ca/students-cite-accessibility-concerns-after-macodrum-library-door-incident/
[4] https://charlatan.ca/haven-to-close-after-projected-cusa-deficits/
[5] https://www.cusaonline.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CUSA-Working-Budget-2023-2024.xlsx-1.pdf
[6] https://www.instagram.com/p/DCccJorx5LY/?img_index=2
[7] https://students.carleton.ca/2024/10/haven-connect-is-now-open/
[8] https://www.cusaonline.ca/cusa-announces-the-closure-of-haven-services-to-be-transitioned-onto-campus/
[9] https://www.change.org/p/save-haven