Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe

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The following is part of a letter sent to members of the President’s Student Advisory Council, University Unions Board of Directors and Dr. Gonzalez by Hayley Gillespie as part of the public comment period for the Cactus Cafe that ended May 7, 2010. We sincerely hope that this evidence weighs heavily in decisions regarding the future of the Cactus Cafe.

1) The three most relevant pieces of evidence for official UT student body support of the Cactus Cafe are the following resolutions and statements by the GSA/SG/College Council presidents.

• SG Resolution (unanimously passed) 3/29/2010
• GSA Resolution (unanimously passed) 2/10/10
• Statement by the 18 College Council Presidents run in Daily Texan.

2) It is very important to note that the Student Events Center (SEC) proposal was never a plan to repurpose the Cactus and was only a contingency plan for how to use the space if the Cactus was indeed closed in August.

• The KUT plan is nothing more than the SEC plan with KUT added for non-academic-year management.
• See attached KUT plan draft 1, given to the Cactus Conversations group on 4/8/10 for similarities between the SEC and KUT plans, later revised and released on the Cactus Comments blog as the “KUT & University Unions visions draft”.
• In addition, here is a comment from the Cactus Comments blog by someone who identifies themselves as “SEC student” who is apparently speaking on behalf of the SEC.

sec student
February 21st, 2010 at 11:30 pm

PLEASE REALIZE that the SEC does not endorse closing the Cactus at all. Many of us are devastated by the idea. This is, however, our attempt to do SOMETHING to salvage the space, and ensure that it is still used, WHEN it closes. If it is saved, that would be incredible – but if it’s not, we want something in place to prevent it from falling into non-use in the room inventory. We have no illusion that this would do justice to the history of the Cactus, or be anything like it is right now. The fact is, we need real solutions for the “what-if,” when it actually closes. If you have ideas for how we can do this with no money, I very honestly urge you to contact us with your ideas.

• See the 168 comments on the Cactus Comments blog opposing the SEC proposal
• See the 40 comments opposing the KUT proposal

3) Attached are the subset of comments from the Cactus Comments blog that can be 100% positively identified as coming from current UT students (other comments may be from students, but don’t identify themselves as such).

4) Testimonials authored by eight students who used to work in the Cactus Cafe are attached. These testimonials clearly demonstrate the tangible benefits to students that the Cactus Cafe can provide. If the  KUT proposal is enacted, there will be no more student employees running the cafe/bar. Between eight and twelve UT-employed students work in the Cactus Cafe every semester, and many stick around for years. We need to protect student jobs in our Union.

5) There has been an almost unprecedented amount of grassroots organization by students (both graduate and undergraduate) in support of the Cactus Cafe and/or in opposition to the KUT plan. There has been no grassroots effort to organize on behalf of any students or groups to promote the KUT plan or closing the Cactus, not even a single OpEd.

• Two student proposals (out of three, if you include the SEC proposal) by Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe and students Taylor Steinberg and John Meller both advocate for keeping the Cactus open under current management while improving the business plan and increasing student involvement (text of both proposals attached). The KUT plan was introduced by administrators (not students) and uses the SEC proposal for a purpose for which it was not originally intended.
• Founding of grassroots student organization (undergrad/grad) Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe.
• Approximately 550 signees of the Friends of the Cactus Cafe/Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe petition (that garnered approximately 6,000 signatures) are current UT students. The text of the petition reads:

“We, the undersigned, recognize the vital role that the Cactus Cafe plays in the University and Austin communities and the American music community at-large and strongly urge the Texas Union management and the Texas Union Board of Directors to commit to keeping the Cactus Cafe open in a manner that preserves its current fundamental character, in its present location, under professional and experienced management as it currently operates. We support the efforts of Friends of the Cactus Cafe and Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe to keep the Cactus Cafe open as a cherished music venue and believe their plan to fund operating expenses of and provide greater opportunities for students in operating and performing at the Cactus Cafe should be given a chance to succeed”

• Approximately 400 student facebook fans on the two UT student Cactus Cafe pages, many more on the Save the Cactus Cafe group (with over 25,000 members, we haven’t been able to look and see how many are students; its too many to easily count!)

6) The following is a collection of student support, articles, and OpEds regarding the Cactus Cafe.

• 2/5/10 Austin American Statesman OpEd by UT undergraduate student and musician Ricky Stein
• 2/8/10 Burnt Orange Report OpEd by UT undergraduate student Zachary Bidner
• 3/25/10 Daily Texan Firing Line by UT undergraduate student and University-Wide rep Matt Portillo
• 4/6/10 Daily Texan Editorial by UT undergraduate student and Daily Texan Editor Jillian Sheridan
• 4/7/10 Daily Texan Article by UT undergraduate Audrey White In which Dr. Soncia Reagins-Lilly, senior associate vice president and dean of students, said she will still consider the resolution passed at the March 30 SG meeting as the voice of the assembly.

• 4/10/10 Daily Texan Guest Editorial by UT graduate student Hayley- Gillespie. This editorial describes the major shortfalls of the KUT option
• 4/18/20 Statement by the Daily Texan Editorial Board. This editorial board statement (all undergraduates) states, “As administrators try to push through a new business model by the end of April, we can only hope the Union Board realizes more time and consideration — not to mention proactive options — are necessary and postpone the vote.”

• 4/25/10 Undergraduate Jeremy Buchard for the Daily Texan Editorial Board

• 4/29/10 Daily Texan Editorial by UT Undergraduate and Daily Texan Editor Jillian Sheridan

• 5/3/10 Shabab Siddiqui’s Daily Texan article on current Cactus management. This article features the current Cactus management and discusses how the Cactus has worked with students.

7) The following are a sampling of articles recently published in the Daily Texan that feature Cactus Cafe artists. If acts that play the Cactus were completely irrelevant to students, the Daily Texan would probably not be giving them full back page Life & Arts coverage. The Texan has also covered other singer-songwriters and “folk” musicians this semester that play music in the same vein as many Cactus artists.

• Kat Edmonson
• Alejandro Escovedo
• Kerrville Student Singer-Songwriter Contest

8 ) The following articles are a small sampling that demonstrate the Cactus’ fame as a music venue and demonstrate that this issue is representative of similar budget-cut and student representation issues nationwide.

• Billboard magazine article text that lists Cactus Cafe as one of the top 15 listening rooms in the country.
• The Cactus Cafe has won the Austin Music Awards best acoustic venue for the past 9 years.
• Economist magazine discusses Cactus Cafe as part of a larger discussion on how cutting key programs as part of budget cuts doesn’t improve student education
• New York Times coverage

9) Attached is a document outlining Dean Soncia Reagins-Lilly’s answers to a list of questions that posed to her in a meeting by Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe co-founder Hayley Gillespie regarding the Cactus Cafe. The most enlightening of which are the following:

Q: What groups of students were advocating for the Cactus and Informal Classes to be singled-out for cuts before 1/29/2010?
A: “There were not any”. Since she has been here there may have been students who have asked questions about what the Cactus is, but she cannot recall who or when; no documentation of complaints/concerns/requests for access. May have some old emails [never got a reply as to whether any were found, or if she looked after meeting].  No tracking of any formal student opinion, not something they were keeping track of.

Q: How exactly was student input sought prior to 1/29/2010?
A: “We didn’t” , this was a purely administrative decision.

10) Attached are all emails circulated between members of the “Cactus Conversations” group. These are attached in order to demonstrate, in part, that the students involved in these meetings repeatedly called for:

• More student and faculty involvement and representation in the “conversations” (which never happened)
• Actual review of submitted student proposals and the Cactus budget (which never happened)
• Hosting a public forum (which was eventually held by Dr. Gonzalez)