The Bistro is a student favorite “third space” and a beloved coffee shop on campus. However, the business is already at a negative balance of $13,000 since the beginning of the 2024-25 fiscal year. The Bistro is planning on asking the Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU) for more money this year, which if provided, will add up to more than $73,000 in monetary support from ASWU over the past four years.
Lisa Holliday, the associate dean of students & director of Student Engagement and Leadership (SEAL), works with both ASWU and the Bistro. She explained that the Bistro essentially “starts from ground zero” each year, and its profits all get reinvested into the business. With minimum wage increasing along with the price of goods, it is understandable that the Bistro would be struggling, even though the coffee shop does not pay rent or utilities. In past years, Holliday shared, the Bistro used to make enough profit to provide a “nest egg” that helped support them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, once that money was used, the Bistro struggled to break even in terms of profit. Madeleine Montanye (’25), the Bistro’s general manager, emphasized that “the plan was to not go back into more debt, but unfortunately, it’s been tough.”
Since the debt accumulation started, the Bistro has combated the vicious cycle of needing money each fiscal year to pay for materials and to have employees on payroll. However, they then struggle throughout the year to break even. “All of that money is going back into the business,” Holliday explained. If the Bistro is unable to make that money up in profits, it leads to a deficit at the beginning of a new fiscal year. This cycle leads the Bistro to seek funding elsewhere, such as from ASWU.
ASWU President Anastasiia Lemesh (’26) emphasized that it is up to senators to decide where endowment funds should be allocated. “We [ASWU executives] understand the importance of the Bistro, but the decision maker in this situation is the senate,” Lemesh explained.
Last year, senators voted unanimously to clear the Bistro’s $42,000 debt, adding to a previous $18,000 granted in 2020. Lemesh reiterated ASWU’s interest in helping the Bistro again this year. “We are ready to connect senators and help them understand how the Bistro will benefit everyone,” she said. Montanye is visiting an ASWU meeting on Nov. 7 to speak to senators about the Bistro, hoping to connect with some younger senators.
Ultimately, it seems that if the Bistro can legitimize their reasons for ASWU to continue to give them funding, the senators would decide to do so. However, this can also depend on other campus organizations senators believe funds should be allotted to. Holliday and Lemesh both expressed desires to be as communicative as possible about plans for both ASWU and the Bistro. Lemesh noted interest in agreements between ASWU and the Bistro to provide monetary reports each semester. “We just want to help,” she said.
Montanye claimed, “We are looking to do more of a partnership with ASWU.” Lemesh also hopes to continue to communicate their plans with students, along with being transparent about where funds are going on campus.
Hi! I just wanted to note that this isn’t an entirely accurate narrative — the Bistro hasn’t wracked up $13,000 in debt since the beginning of the year. We came into this year with $13,000 of debt carrying over from last semester/over the summer. This semester, we have been able to make some headway rather than just continuing to lose more money. Come see my presentation at the ASWU meeting tonight for more details.