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End of days for Ché Café?
Letter from UCSD administration suggests campus collective gets out before they're put out
The Ché Café Collective must get out or the sheriff’s will lock them out.
That was the bottom line of a letter sent to the collective and distributed Tuesday evening from UCSD Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Juan C. Gonzalez.
The letter stated that the Superior Court issued a November judgment that ruled the collective had forfeited its lease and the administration had the right to hang an eviction notice, but that administrators had waited until it heard back from the Associated Students (AS) and the Graduate Students Association (GSA).
Both student groups resolved that the Ché had to leave.
The letter stated that based on that input, the administration has decided that Ché Café Collective must leave the 72-year-old building by March 14 or be formally evicted.
“Shuttering the Ché will be a great disservice to the UCSD community and greater San Diego,” commented attorney Brian Pease who fought to keep the Ché alive.
The letter distributed yesterday went on to quote a report that said the building’s water system is unable to support a fire sprinkler system and that the facilities structure lacks “footings, foundations, or anchorage.”
The letter said the earliest the collective could move back would be the fall of 2016, but only if specified structural repairs occurred, if the collective proved it was solvent, and if UC student use was improved. The letter said the administration would not “alter or dismantle” the Ché building before the fall of 2016.
The “increase UC student use” stipulation suggests that the Ché Café’s use as a venue supported by mostly non-UCSD students may not be part of a new Ché, should it ever be allowed to reopen.
An email from the Ché collective states the following: “The collective understands that there are several different opinions regarding how to move forward. We have decided to hold an open forum on Friday, March 6, at 9 p.m. where we invite past collective members, community members, students, and general supporters of Ché Café to voice their opinion.”