On paper, the decision to keep Downing Bar student-run looks like a victory for the 332 students and alumni who criticised the College’s original plans to scrap the Bar Committee. Issues were raised and voices were heard; it seems like a success story. However, the outcome should not blind people from the core question that this controversy has revealed – why should student spaces need defending at all?

The student bar is the centre of college life, and symbolises much more than just a service. Amidst the essay deadlines, week 5 blues and homesickness, the bar promises comfort. Although it may be for some, the importance of this space is not founded on alcohol, but the socialising and entertainment that it provides. The guarantee of seeing a friendly face at the end of a tiresome day is enough to transform one’s mindset.

Of course there are multiple other bars and pubs around Cambridge to go to, and you might be equally assured to recognise faces at the local spoons. But, the magic of the student bar lies in its workforce, a workforce that is predominately made of the student body. This fact entirely differentiates the student bar from any other social space within the city since for once, the students themselves are being put first. Instead of prioritising profit, student bars focus on accessibility, relieving the intense pressures placed on many by the cost of living crisis. The knowledge that you can comfortably get a pint for around £3 from your College instead of double the price elsewhere is invaluable. Whether you choose to drink alcohol or not, the student bar provides an environment where people can convene equally, without the fear of exclusion due to financial concerns. Cheaper drinks are not just a perk, but a mechanism of social equalisation.

“Why should student spaces need defending at all?”

It is not just the price of alcohol that makes student bars a prized institution. Student management allows real responsibility and ownership within College life. College infrastructure can often feel very detached from the student body, decisions are made and plans changed by illusive figures without much communication with the people who will actually be affected by their actions: us. Therefore, the student bar gives the college community agency and power over one of the most important social aspects within university. To take this away, and replace it with the catering department (in Downing’s case) would be to hollow out a student-run institution and replace it with administration.

Where does it end? If a student bar is no longer run by its core demographic, what could happen to the JCR, bops and welfare programming? It’s already evident that students are slowly being pushed to the edges of their College life. The use of College facilities outsourced to companies for conferences, weddings and summer schools highlights the university’s prioritisation of revenue over student life. This professionalisation of social spaces narrows the scope of student life, subtly reinforcing the university’s common expectation that students should be studying, not socialising.

The social aspect is not the only crucial element of the student bar, it also becomes an informal welfare space. Many students are far more likely to seek comfort in familiar communal spaces when they’re feeling lonely or burnt out instead of going straight to a welfare officer. Being amongst peers creates an atmosphere of ease, where support for one another can grow organically without the need for formal infrastructure. The welfare team is of course crucial to college life, but the student bar provides another outlet to reduce isolation. By professionalising these places, and removing student management, these spaces risk losing their importance. If the bar is managed primarily through the lens of efficiency and profit, what happens to its integral social support?

“Support for one another can grow organically without the need for formal infrastructure”

The importance of the student bar is clearly an inter-generational sentiment. The strength of the alumni reaction to the Downing Bar proposal is telling of that fact, as 106 alumni challenged the proposed changes. These graduates did not mobilise in defence of student-management purely out of sympathy, but because they recognised and remembered the integral role that the student bar plays in College life. Their threat of ceasing future donations and breaking ties with the College itself, signifies just how valuable social spaces are in creating a memorable university experience. Memories aren’t made because things are efficiently administered, but because things bring joy, friendship and community.

Although Downing College did not succeed this time in removing student management, their proposal reflects the threats that the student community is facing surrounding their personal agency. If the University is serious about student welfare, it must recognise that student-run spaces are crucial to cultivating an environment of trust and happiness. The student bar grants us a sense of ownership within an institution that can often feel distant and detached. Removing this simply creates a fractured relationship between the student and the collegiate bodies. For a university that prides itself on producing independent thinkers and future leaders, it should not be afraid of student autonomy.