"Find the door that looks like it belongs to a nuclear bunker, and take the stairs down," read the instructions to the Graduate Center Bar on the Web site for the Graduate Student Council. You might not expect it, but beneath the nondescript concrete towers of the Grad Center complex lies a privately run, fully functioning bar.
Unlike the Underground in Faunce House, which is recognized by the University as an undergraduate student organization, the GCB is run as its own corporation. It leases its property from Brown and holds a Class D liquor license. The GCB corporation, officially known as "Brown University Faculty-Graduate Student Club Doing Business at the Graduate Center Bar," is run by a board of governors and a manager. Board members can be graduate or medical students, faculty or staff.
The bar is registered as a nonprofit private organization. "This works out pretty well for all those involved, as the prices per drink are also cheaper than most of Providence," said Theodore Przybyla GS, treasurer of the Graduate Student Council and occasional GCB patron.
While the Underground has had problems in the past with underage drinking, the GCB has never faced such problems. "We actively discourage people under 21 from coming here," said GCB manager Susan Yund. "It would be a huge liability for us," she said, adding that the bar tries to cater to an adult crowd. Graduate students, particularly those who serve as teaching assistants, often want a place to relax away from undergraduates.
"It's nice to have that separation," said Christopher Harwood, president of the GCB board of governors and a biosafety officer for Environmental Health and Safety. "We do allow undergraduates that are 21," he added. "But we're very strict about the drinking age."
One of the ways the GCB monitors its patrons is through its membership requirement, which is one stipulation of the Class D liquor license in Rhode Island. According to R.I. state law, any bar or club with a Class D liquor license must limit the sale of alcohol to "members of the licensed club and their guests."
The annual GCB membership fee is $30. The Graduate Student Council uses money from their student activities fund to buy a bulk membership - which costs about $2 per person - for all medical and graduate students.
Graduate and undergraduate students make up most of the bar's patrons. "There are very few people outside of the Brown community," Yund said.
Out of roughly 1,700 graduate students at Brown, Yund estimated that between one third and one half visit the GCB at least once over the course of the year. The composition of the bar patrons varies by night, but the bar is almost always busy after 9:30 or 10 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday nights, Yund said. "Thursday nights are often heavy with undergrads," Yund said. The bar is open from 4 p.m. until 1 a.m. every day.
The GCB first opened in 1969 and was located under the Bear's Lair, in what is currently a computer cluster. In 1986, the bar moved to its present location.
Yund said she has been working at the GCB for 17 years and has been the manager for the past 14. During her first three years at the GCB, Yund bartended and said the bar wasn't very busy - but since then, business has grown.
"There were times maybe 14 years ago when we had financial difficulties," Harwood said. But since Yund has been manager, the bar has seen a lot of business. "For the past five or six years, we've been doing very well," she said.
Some of the annual revenue from the GCB is used for maintenance and improvements of the bar's facilities, while some is reserved as part of a security fund. The remainder of the revenue is donated to charities including Amos House, Little League and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, among others.
When asked about the University administration's perspective on having two bars on campus, Associate Vice President of Campus Life and Dean for Student Life Margaret Klawunn said the bars are models for responsible drinking on campus.
"There is some value in modeling responsible behavior with alcohol," she said.
