Bring back the era of student bars

There tends to be a lot of discourse about student drinking culture. At Massive, we hear all sides of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. Especially from those who claim we are perpetuating it. Maybe we are. I don’t know, I guess there’s such an anti-student lens in mainstream media, that as a student mag, we want to counter some of that negativity. Celebrate the gross, stinky parts of our culture, piss-stained and all.  

That’s not to deny that there’s seriously harmful parts of that culture. Sexual violence, domestic assault, and addiction are just some of the flow-on effects from our death-grip on liquor. So how do we actually counter that? Should we ban alcohol altogether? Probably not, given how the prohibition era went. Should we create stricter punishments around public intoxication? Again, not a great idea. Those kinds of regulations tend to unfairly target Māori and Pasifika communities, leading to further harm in our community. Sure, education is a useful tool, but can only go so far. People are going to drink regardless. At the end of the day, we need safe spaces, for both sober and drunk students, to go to. Quite simply, we need student bars. Or, at the very least, better ones.  

Palmerston North is a recent example of stricter public crackdowns of student drinking, with bars now closing at 2am instead of 3am. Measures like these just drive students to house parties, which can be more harmful than helpful. There’s no supervision around alcohol or drug consumption, crowd regulation, you know, all that fun health and safety stuff. Over the past few years in NZ, there’s been balcony collapses, overcrowding, and even deaths resulting from flat party environments.  

To counter that, Otago University’s Student Association specifically bought a bar, Starters, so it could be a safe space for students. Auckland University has Shadows Bar. Canterbury University has The Foundry. A controlled drinking environment, where you have bar staff and security looking out for students, alongside some delicious hot food (yum!). If you feel unsafe, you have a sober adult looking out for you. There’re limits on capacity and regulations over building safety. These are the kind of places that Massey needs more of.  

Massey has a student bar, Ferg’s, in Auckland, but let’s face it...it could be better. Don’t hate me! Just sayin’. Oh, and we technically have Tussock, in Wellington, if you want to count a bar that closes at 4pm in the afternoon. Manawatū just has nothing, as usual lol.  

Having social areas on campuses solidifies communities, builds connections. Student bars can be a space for clubs to unwind over a plate of hot chips. For first dates and bad flirting and negging over pool tables. For friends to catch up, for lecturers to bitch about marking. You get all the benefits of a safe space, with a cheap pint to boot.  

Massey used to have these places. We used to be powerhouses of the student bar domain. We even had air hockey tables, believe it or not. But in a rush to crack down on student drinking, we’ve lost these beacons of hope, of stability. Let’s bring these back.  

I hope, in the meantime, you enjoy our alcohol issue.  

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Caroline