While serving a one month suspension from the University chaplain’s office, Postcrypt Coffeehouse will leave its historic venue on campus and rock on at a gallery downtown until March.
Jewelnel Davis, University chaplain and director of Earl Hall, said the student-run music venue that hosts weekly folk concerts in the basement of St. Paul’s Chapel has been suspended until March 4 because the group booked events one weekend after student programming was scheduled to end.
Last year, many members feared Postcrypt would host its last show, after sanctions from the chaplain’s office in response to concerns about underage drinking threatened to put the group out of business. Since then, Postcrypt has complied with requests to stop selling organic microbrew beer, coffee, and popcorn, and to hire a security guard for $1,600 per month for Friday and Saturday night concerts.
Galen Boone, BC ’12 and manager of Postcrypt, confirmed that the chaplain’s office considered putting an end to the group’s 45-year presence in St. Paul’s.
“The office of the University Chaplain felt we were not a responsible group and that we should be expelled,” Boone said, adding that they instead compromised on a monthlong suspension.
Boone added that though the group made a mistake in booking events one weekend after the scheduled end of programming, she and other members felt that the “oversight did not warrant suspension, much less expulsion.”
Davis, however, said that it was customary to suspend groups for this type of violation.
Davis said her office is not looking to end the group in any way, adding that the office has spent money to help repair their stage and improve lighting.
“This is not a step to permanently eject the coffeehouse from the chapel,” Davis, who said she has never attended a concert at Postcrypt, said. “We know Postcrypt is a significant enjoyment to the Columbia community.”
The nights of Dec. 17 and 18, the weekend Postcrypt had overbooked, the chapel had been locked, said, Anthony da Costa, CC ’13, booking manager and regular musician for the venue. While the group found the locked doors unusual, they asked someone from Public Safety to open the space without any issues.
Postcrypt has since agreed to pay for the cost of cleaning the chapel an extra weekend and paying for the security used that same weekend, Boone said. She added that the group is looking to work with the Office of Civic Action and Engagement to avoid any future overbooking mistakes.
In the meantime, Boone said the group will host folk shows downtown at Tribes Gallery on 3rd Street and Avenue C.
Though it remains a temporary solution, Boone is optimistic about the new venue.
“It’s going to be a return to the old Postcrypt,” she said.
Boone said the club hasn’t felt the same since opening under the new restrictions.
“It’s hard to stay in the chapel,” Boone said. “It’s not the [lack of] beer—it’s the change in atmosphere. We’re being babysat and policed, but we’re not sure why.”
Davis, said she thinks the relationship between the group and the office has been great, adding that Boone has kept in touch with her and the group’s advisor regularly.
“I hope things are good between us [in March] as they have been in the fall,” Davis said.
Da Costa, a well known singer in the local folk scene, said that before the suspension he and other members felt grateful for the chaplain’s help in renovating their space.
However, he said, they’ve felt scrutinized to follow every new restriction.
“This has been a really difficult year for the club,” da Costa said. “We’ve been under a microscope and we’ve done our best to cooperate and collaborate with the chaplain.”
Davis said the group has complied with the restrictions. “In general, we have been quite pleased with how the Coffeehouse has respected the space and policies,” Davis said. “This has been a surprise.”
karla.jimenez@columbiaspectator.com
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