Every Tuesday night, students from across campus head toward Raymond House, where Coffeehouse has become a staple of the student social diet.
Greeted by a warm atmosphere, comfortable furniture, and the choice of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, visitors settle down to enjoy a few hours of entertainment. Spotlights focus on a small stage, where the entertainment can range from professional bands to campus performers, such as the Dutch Pipers. And, on good nights, a hitherto undiscovered star will step onto the stage during an “open-mike” session.
The idea for Coffeehouse came in the fall of 1995, when Brian Goldberg '99 and several other freshmen began talking at a football game. “We started talking about the idea, 'What if we had our own house?' ” Goldberg says. “And we said, 'Wouldn't it be great if there was a place where people could be social but it was also a showcase for artistic talent.' ”
Answering those questions led to the accumulation of new interested members, discussions with administrators, a proposal, and, in the fall of 1996, the opening of Coffeehouse.
The Coffeehouse stage has been the scene of stellar performances. “We wanted, essentially, to have a stage that gave people the opportunity to do something,” Goldberg says. “If there is some kid who sits up in his room and plays the guitar but he has no place on campus to play his first time, we wanted to give him a stage.”
That, they have. “At the end of the night someone sees the stage and it kind of beckons them and they step up, maybe with only a few people listening,” Goldberg says with a smile. “What's so wonderful is to see them a few months later and they're the ones stepping up when the crowd is still big.”
The group that runs Coffeehouse is called “The Society,” and members have worked to make Coffeehouse as accessible to the campus community as possible. They have implemented such programs as “Coffeehouse on the Road,” which brings the Coffeehouse experience to other spaces on campus such as Dutch Hollow and Old Chapel, and opened their doors to countless club meetings, poetry readings, and band rehearsals.
The true draw of The Society and its Coffeehouse is the freedom they represent. Whether it is the ability to get up in front of people and perform on a whim, or the opportunity to implement events, Coffeehouse is an opportunity for self-empowerment. Simply put, as Goldberg points out, “You come up with an idea, you can do it!”