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The Dartmouth
March 19, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Bar One debuts as 'equivalent social space'

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The Bar One event debuted last Thursday in One Wheelock.

Last Thursday evening, Bar One made its debut — with nearly 140 students in attendance. Organized by the Palaeopitus senior society and funded by the Office of the President, Bar One attempts to supplement other campus offerings such as Collis After Dark, which provide students with alternative social spaces. 

James Park ’20, who helped organize Bar One, said that Hanover’s lack of student-oriented bars was the main inspiration for creating the event. Park added that the organizers of the event have referred to Bar One as an “equivalent social space,” which he said is an important distinction from what are commonly called “alternative social spaces.” Park said that the ultimate goal in creating Bar One was to create another social option through a weekly event where students could interact in an informal bar atmosphere.

“Our inspiration was students talking about the lack of social options on campus,” Park said. 

 Park said the goal of the event is to create a reliable space that is open weekly, rather than just a one-time event. Organizers of Bar One said that they aim to create something close to a campus bar.

 “All you have is the fraternities,” Park said, who also is also the chair of the Greek Life Council. “Salt Hill Pub and Murphy’s aren’t undergrad spaces.”  

 The event took place last Thursday from 9 p.m. to midnight in One Wheelock and included a diverse crowd of both Greek-affiliated and non affiliated students, according to Park. He said that Collis’ central location and the cozy atmosphere of One Wheelock were integral in the planning and the atmosphere of the event. Park added that the Bar One organizers hope to make the event regular during on nights. 

 “Hopefully, we want to give people an option for Fridays and Saturdays, and make it known that you can hang out there,” Park said. 

 Extensive efforts to create alternative social gatherings have been taking place on campus well before Bar One. Mychaela Anderson ’20, a co-moderator of Palaeopitus, Collis After Dark intern and chair of Collis Governing Board, helps to organize several alcohol-related events outside the Greek system. These include Microbrew Mondays, Brews & Bands — where there is a live band and an open bar — and Cork & Canvas, where wine and painting are offered. 

One of the more notable events hosted by the College with alcohol was BarHop, an event that was regularly hosted weekly from Winter 2014 until May 2017. BarHop events took place in the garage space of the Hopkins Center, where drinks were served in addition to other activities such as dancing, painting, drawing and trivia. It was founded by students but eventually put on hold in 2017, apparently due to a lack of funding, staffing and space. The event has not returned since.

 Regarding the current offerings by Collis After Dark, Anderson said they are well attended.

“People like the other opportunities there are,” Anderson said. “There are some people who would potentially want other things, and these events are always there.” 

Collis Center deputy director Joseph Castelot said the planning of alcohol-related events is overseen by the Collis Governing Board, and the planning of such events is mostly student-driven. 

 “From a Collis Center standpoint, we leave it up to the students to decide if there is a need for an event, and they determine that they want to have alcohol at it,” Castelot said. 

 According to Castelot, while the Collis Governing Board includes alcohol at some of its events, their goal is that something other than alcohol itself is at the center of the event. 

 “I think the goal that we have within the Collis Governing Board is trying to make sure that there is something else other than the alcohol that becomes the feature of the event,” Castelot said. 

 According to Anderson, planning of alcohol-related events is simple. She noted that organizations fill out an online form to request to host events serving alcohol. 


Soleil Gaylord
Soleil ('22) is a news writer for The Dartmouth. She is from Telluride, Colorado and plans to major in government and environmental studies.