Jonathan Glencross is arguably the most knowledgeable student on campus when it comes to the University’s food services. He is a coordinator of the McGill Food Systems Project and of the Sustainability Projects Fund, his brainchild last year. In an interview with The Daily, Glencross proposed a possible four-point action plan for bringing back a student-run Architecture Café to the Macdonald-Harrington building, independent of McGill Food and Dining Services management. “If it’s possible, this is the only way I see it happening,” he says.
The Architecture Students Association (ASA) would need to affiliate with a student association with an existing Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), and a lot of cash, and fast. The parent association would also have to have proven experience in operating a food service. The MoA would ensure that the new student partnership could negotiate institutionally with the University. The office of the Deputy Provost has already rejected the Enginerring Undergraduate Society’s (EUS) initial offer, and is unlikely to go back on its word, so the parent association would have to be a group other than EUS.
The parent organization would have to front enough money for the hiring of a full-time position dedicated to overseeing the operations of the Café. This would include payroll, bookkeeping, and management of student employees.
This new student partnership would then have to draw up a plan in consultation with all relevant administrators and professionals, in order to bring the Arch Café up to McGill’s legal and accountability standards.
This plan would then have to be presented to the November 30 Board of Governors meeting, by SSMU President Zach Newburgh.
—Compiled by Michael-Lee Murphy