Judge rules against Ché

Superior court judge Katherine Bacal ruled Tuesday that the UCSD Board of Regents could evict the student collective that has been operating the Ché Café for 34 years.

Once the written decision is issued, the UCSD administration could change the locks within five days according to attorney Bryan Pease, who represented the collective and who championed the Ché’s ethos of providing “cheap healthy eats” while presenting vital artists such as Green Day, Mike Watt, At the Drive In, Billy Corgan, and Bright Eyes in an alcohol-free environment.

A frustrated Pease was considering an appeal, which means he must prove there was a judgment in error.

“I have to talk to some people [about the next step],” Pease told the Reader immediately after the hearing.

Pease says he was miffed at the fact that he proved that the Ché collective proved in court that it asked for a “dispute resolution” to be initiated to solve the impasse in June, but that the judge ruled there was no evidence that it was invoked. “I think we proved that it was.”

Pease says the University rejected attempts by the Ché collective to apply the dispute resolution process, which was part of its lease with UCSD.

Pease regrets that the Associated Students did not have an opportunity to weigh in on the fate of the Ché and that the much smaller GSA (Graduate Student Association) did so after only one poorly advertised and poorly attended meeting.

Members of the collective suggest school administration acted in bad faith when it quashed a $35,000 grant from another school organization to upgrade the facility and had the natural gas supply cut off.

“This is now primarily a political issue,” says Pease, who adds that whatever pressure that now needs to be applied, needs to be organized by the collective (thechecafe.blogspot.com; checafe.ucsd.edu).

If Pease does pursue an appeal, the Ché would likely be shuttered while the next legal phase is pursued.

Members of the collective were miffed at how unapproachable Associate Vice Chancellor Gary Ratcliff and other UCSD administrators were over this process.

Many questions remain. Could the Ché collective continue offering live shows at other UCSD venues like the privately run Porter’s Pub? Does the school have plans (as has been rumored) to tear down the Ché Café building? And what will happen to the iconic murals that adorn the outside of the Ché Café?