Demystifying The Hut, Santa Clara's Campus Bar

The phenomenon of campus bars create and emphasize the culture of community at universities throughout the United States. In understanding the significance a "college bar" has to the students at the university as well as the community surrounding, it is important to take into account the specific aspects of background, history and tradition that allow the culture of a college bar to express much more than simply a place to have a few drinks. The specific case study of The Hut utilizes the community of Santa Clara University in a unique way - after remaining open for 70 years, the bar was shut down, yet due to the passion and love of the surrounding community The Hut reopened its doors a little over two years after shutting them. However, the college dive bar transitioned into a brewery-style barbecue restaurant, redefining what it means to create a "college bar" culture with a new environment.

On the corner of Franklin Street and the Alameda, just outside of Lucas Hall at Santa Clara University, there lies a small wooden building standing unsuspectingly to any passerby. This building is known as “The Hut”. With a strong connection to the students of the university, “the Hut linked generations of Broncos since its opening in the 1940s,” (Greenwood). It is both within college bar tradition as well as the historical importance of food in community with others that ties the Hut into the fabric of SCU and thus guides the further research. The Hut, after a two year hiatus, recently reopened its doors as a family restaurant, a very different feel than the college bar scene that closed its doors in 2017. Griffy notes in her article Returning to a Corner Near SCU: The Hut, Broncos from around the world began sharing their memories of what the small building on this street corner meant to each individual. “Students called for its reopening in an online petition that garnered 1,765 signatures,” (Griffy).