Save the Cafe Clinton!

It has been brought to the attention of a number of members of the Berwick Academy community that an executive order originating in the facilities office of the school has required the closing of the front established for the sale of various foodstuffs and beverages in Madame Clintons Upper School French room (hereinafter referred to as the cafй.) We the undersigned realize the circumstances under which the facilities office initially made the decision to order the closing of the cafй, however we dispute their ruling on a number of counts. These counts are here enumerated.

The reason initially provided as rationale for the order to close the cafй was that it caused undue strain on the Berwick facilities. It is the opinion of the undersigned that this rationale is erroneous to the point of absurdity. Until the facilities office can provide well-documented evidence of a detrimental effect resulting from the cafй, closing the cafй is an irresponsible, rash, and even reprehensible act. The burden of proof, in short, is on the facilities office. The facilities office has, to this point, provided absolutely no evidence, empirical, scientific, or otherwise, to advance their case. To say that this falls woefully short of the threshold needed to take such serious action would be an understatement of massive proportions. The facilities office has no right to issue any order to close the cafй until it can prove conclusively to the Berwick community that such action is necessary for the preservation of a comfortable learning environment.

Closing the cafй would do far more to hurt the Berwick community than it would to help it. The cafй has been a part of the Upper School landscape for nearly twenty years. It enables students and faculty to keep their energy level high throughout the day and perform at their peak. It provides a venue for socialization, the cementing of friendships, and the public airing of the daily zeitgeist of the school. It also provides much-needed funds for the Foreign Film Club and the annual French trip. It is, in short, an invaluable part of the Upper School landscape and its closing would hurt the school immensely. Closing any number of Berwick facilities might make the cleaning job easier for the maintenance staff, however their benefit to the school far outweighs the slight additional burden required by their daily cleaning.

The only benefit derived from the closing of the cafй would be, possibly, a slightly easier cleaning job for the Berwick facilities crew. And even this is far from definite, as food from outside would presumably still be allowed in, assuming that it is not the intention of the facilities department to entirely deprive Upper School students of nourishment during the daylight hours. This outside food could well be much messier than the food currently available at the cafй. Closing the cafй, in other words, is a massive gamble on the part of the facilities office, as what will replace it (and rest assured that as long as the spirit of student ingenuity is alive at Berwick, it will be replaced) could well prove to be far more of a burden.

Finally, it is the opinion of the undersigned that the maintenance office does not come close to possessing the authority needed to command a change of such magnitude. Such a decision must be reached by the Berwick community as a whole, and must include approval from, at a bare minimum, the Faculty, head Upper School administrative officials, and, ideally, Upper School Student Government.

Part of the Berwick mission is to teach its students to do what is right and defend their positions in an articulate manner. This goal is accomplished with remarkable aplomb on a daily basis on the hilltop. It is this well-educated, oratorically-skilled, and intelligent demographic that the facilities office will have to contend with as they attempt to close the cafй. Those that wish to achieve this goal should realize that they will be met with fierce, skilled, and adroit resistance every step of the way.

Those in which the fire of morality and intelligent discourse still burns will never allow such a travesty to occur.