Asbury’s campus in the blazing late August heat provides little solace for students walking to and from class.
One space that has always been counted on for a break from Kentucky’s diverse weather, and provides a place to relax, socialize, and enjoy a cup of coffee: the HICCUP café in the Student Center, known as the “STUCE” to students.
This year there are some big changes: not only is the STUCE renovated, complete with new paint and new furniture, but COVID-19 precautions are in place to keep the area safe and clean. Tables are spaced out with labels reading whether they are “clean” or “dirty.” Plexiglass surrounds the HICCUP café, encasing its baristas. Masks are to be worn at all times. For the duration of the shorter in-person fall semester, the HICCUP faces the uncharted and challenging territory of continuing in the era of social distancing.
In accordance with COVID-19 guidelines, the HICCUP’s bar area has been enclosed in plexiglass, with a small window to retrieve your coffee drink. Lines have been reduced by stickers on the floor denoting where to stand — six feet apart — from other guests.
“I think of the HICCUP as being a place where people gather,” said senior HICCUP barista Kylie Kozar. “It’s a little harder now that we can’t have people sitting at the counter and can’t have a bunch of people gathering around waiting for their drinks because of social distancing.”
For senior HICCUP barista Joel Wafford, both the COVID-19 safety measures and STUCE renovations bring differences to the STUCE experience:
“With the different colors on the walls and the plexiglass — you’re kind of in a box — it doesn’t feel as social,” Wafford said. “Without the HICCUP sign, it just feels like an industrial spot, you just get your thing and go. I don’t know, it’s not as cool. It’s like a more Starbucks thing, get your coffee and leave. The whole STUCE kind of feels that way, to be honest.”
As part of Asbury University’s Initiative IV in the Imagine2022 campaign, STUCE renovations began August of 2019 with repainting the walls, according to the university website. The latest updates include new STUCE furniture.
“I personally miss the old couches and the old furniture,” said Wafford. “Like, yeah, we needed new stuff but I look around and it’s going towards the modern UK kind of look which I don’t like because it’s not Asbury’s vibe.”
“The old STUCE used to feel very warm. I think the changes on top of COVID have made it so different. I miss it,” said senior HICCUP barista John Garland. “I feel like before, there would be like six people at the bar and it would be packed and music would be really loud.”
Before COVID-19, baristas didn’t have to worry about hearing their customers’ orders right. Now, with the threefold barrier of two masks and a plexiglass window, orders can be difficult to hear.
“It’s not like we don’t want to have music up, you just can’t hear anything with it on. I put my ear at the bottom part of the plexiglass so I can hear easily,” said Wafford.
With students opting to take all online classes and living off-campus, as well as HyFlex classes keeping students all online on specific days, HICCUP baristas are noticing there are less customers during the day.
“Currently there aren’t specific numbers, it’s kind of a percentage bracket, but sales from last year have gone down 20-25%, so a pretty significant amount,” said senior HICCUP manager Becca King.
“We are only in our second week and people are still adjusting to everything that’s new,” says Kozar. “The freshmen are still trying to understand the HICCUP a little bit, I know I still have people coming up that have never been here before. There’s a difference with class schedules and chapel being dispersed too — our busiest time used to be after chapel.”
Despite the differences this year brings, HICCUP staff remain optimistic about the months to come.
“I still think it’s a place where it still brings people into the STUCE to create that community,” said Kozar. “I think despite everything, we’ve adjusted well.”