Columbia Facilities reinstates student barbecues with new conditions

Fire up the grills—student barbecues are back on this spring, Columbia Facilities announced on Friday.

After Facilities announced last term that student groups would no longer be able to hold campus barbecues because of safety and organizational concerns, Chief of Administration Michael Novielli said in an e-mail sent out on Friday that Facilities planned to bring student-group barbecues back this semester under new proposed guidelines.

Novielli invited student council leaders, governing boards, and fraternity councils to participate in a discussion before spring break about the proposed policy for increased safety training and revision to the bureaucratic steps groups must take to plan the events. Novielli wrote in an e-mail to student leaders before break that the proposal “addresses some of the safety concerns that were expressed in the past while still allowing student groups to hold BBQs” through a more controlled system of safety regulations and administrative advisors.

The proposal would require student groups to reserve space and get approval from an organizational advisor. If a group decides to forgo hiring Columbia Catering for the event, the group would, under the proposed guidelines, need to designate a student event manager to undergo fire and safety training. Such training would then be valid for an academic year. Barbecues would have to take place at one of the six spaces Facilities designated as acceptable areas: Revson Plaza, Ancell Plaza, Low Plaza, Van Am Quad, Wien Courtyard, and the pavement between Butler and the College Walk sundial.

Aaron Edmonds, CC ’09 and Student Services representative for the Columbia College Student Council, said that the main goal of the meeting with administrators was to make sure the process remained “user-friendly” for students while still maintaining an adherence to safety procedures.

“There’s a little more structure to putting on a barbecue,” Edmonds said of the planning process. He thinks the new organization—which faculty and administration support—will improve the quality of student group events and draw greater participation from across the campus.

And, of course, the new policy will hopefully augment the true staple of college student existence—the endless pursuit of free food.

“Students will be forced to organize events that a lot more people will come to and where a lot more food will be available,” Edmonds said. “It’ll really enrich the student body.”