By Michael Morton

Photo by Tara Haelle It is a simple, intimate room with impeccable acoustics that seats a maximum of 150 guests. Its burgundy stage curtain has served as the backdrop to performances by artists such as Alison Krauss, Townes Van Zandt and the Dixie Chicks, while the stage has been a launching pad for musicians including Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen. The 31-year history within its concrete walls is rich.

It is the Cactus Café – for now.

As the result of a directive from University of Texas President William Powers Jr. mandating a two-percent budget pool for staff merit raises to offset last year’s economic downturn and raise freeze, and a mandate from Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus calling for a five-percent reduction of the state-financed portion of the University’s budget, the University Unions announced Jan. 29 in a press release that they would “phase out the Texas Union’s Cactus Café and Informal Classes program effective August 2010” and repurpose the Café for student use.

Although the announcement of the phasing out of the café came in late January, the University’s release of 228 pages of documents regarding the Cactus Café decision – as a response to an open records request – shows that the Unions’ Executive Director Andy Smith considered a move to “discontinue” the café as early as December.

In a memorandum to Vice President for Student Affairs Juan Gonzalez dated Dec. 1, 2009, Smith writes that the phasing out of the Cactus Café was a “difficult decision to reach, but the budget of the Texas Union must reflect the priorities and core mission of the Texas Union.”

Smith also wrote in the memorandum that less than 20 percent of the Café’s customers are University students and that “over the past decade, [the Cactus Café has] struggled to maintain profitability.” In a separate document that was released, Smith said “the Cactus is in decline and has been for quite a while” citing the café’s $57,765 loss for the 2008-09 fiscal year and its average annual loss of $51,133 for the past five years.

“Andy [Smith] and his staff really had to go back to the basics, to the mission and the core values of the University Unions and from there they looked at every aspect of operations in [the Union] and began prioritizing based on what was outlined in the mission and the core values,” Student Events Center (SEC) President and Texas Union Board member Andrew Nash said.

The Texas Union’s Web site states that the Union’s mission is to serve as “the community center for the University, offering activities, programs, services and facilities that complement the academic mission and focus on student development” and its core values are: student development, critical inquiry/active learning, excellence, diversity and stewardship. “Essentially what it came down to was the things that were prioritized a little bit higher focused on student involvement, leadership development and things of that nature,” Nash continued. “When you look at the demographics of people using the Cactus Café, [it] doesn’t serve students as much as [it] serves the outside community.”

The decision to end the café’s business operations by August frees up $66,000 toward the $122,365 the University Unions needs to cut for staff merit raises, and the cancellation of Informal Classes covers the rest confirmed Gonzalez.

“We went through all the scenarios and then we gave our support for the decision,” Student Government President and Texas Union Board member Liam O’Rourke said. “In tough budget times, which we are definitely in, you’ve got to go back to core services and what the Union was meant for – which was primarily to serve students.”

Since the announcement, the decision has been met with controversy and negative feedback from the University and Austin communities. “[Hearing about the University Unions’ decision regarding the Cactus Café] was stunning. I wanted to find out why and I don’t particularly think I’ve found out why even now,” Tom Pittman, banjo and vocalist for the band the Austin Lounge Lizards, a frequent performer at the Cactus Café, said.

Photo Tara Haelle

“First and foremost, the Cactus is not closing,” O’Rourke said. “Basically, we’re shifting the management model towards students and we’re opening it up for different types of acts but not to the exclusion of its traditional programming.”

However, many Austin community members say shifting the management and programming will take away from the atmosphere of the Cactus Café.

“Some people say that anything you do to alter the current state of the Cactus Café is the exact same thing as closing it. Other people say that as long as the doors are still open to that venue, and people are still able to perform in there, then it’s still open,” Nash said. “The venue itself is not changing, but the business side of it is going away. I think everyone has their own definition of what the word ‘closing’ means. I don’t want to say that it is [closing] or it is not [closing], but the business that currently operates there will cease operations at the end of the fiscal year.”

The future of the Cactus Café could be in the form of a plan proposed by Nash, which would create a new nine-member student organization, housed under the SEC and funded by $5,000-$6,000 from the SEC’s programming endowment, whose purpose would be to encourage and facilitate the student use of the Café.

“The purpose of this organization will be to seek out other student groups on campus that want to host programs in the Cactus Café and this organization will be tasked with helping those students carry their vision into reality,” Nash said. “What we do here at the Student Events Center is we create programs for students, so we have a great number of resources and skill sets that not all regular students have access to. I looked at this and saw a great opportunity to share that and teach other students how to have successful events.”

Nash’s proposal, which was unanimously passed by the SEC Executive Cabinet on Feb. 18, was presented to the Union Board on Feb. 26 where the members voted to send the proposal to the Office of the Vice President for further consideration.

“Essentially we’re presenting this as our recommendation to the Union Board, if they support it [the incoming president] will be tasked with appointing an organization chair during the leadership transition process that we go through every spring,” Nash said. “An application will be released, it’s open to the whole student body, from there the president, the organization chair and the staff adviser … will release an application to the student body and solicit students to come sit on this organization.”

O’Rourke supports Nash’s plan and ultimately wants to see the café run by students with the support of the Austin community. Nash hopes members will be selected for the organization by the end of April.

“We’re looking for ways to have different proposals co-exist, but the core of what Andrew’s proposal is doing is putting the Cactus Café in the hands of students,” O’Rourke said. “And some people just don’t believe that students are capable of running the Cactus Café. I just disagree. I think students are more than capable and especially if they have the right support, great things can happen from student leadership.”

One individual against Nash’s plan is Reid Nelson, an Austin attorney and one of the leaders of the non-profit organization Friends of the Cactus Café and its “Save the Cactus Café” campaign. The group started as a Facebook site that currently has more than 24,000 supporters. Nelson said that Nash’s plan is one that would wipe away and destroy all that has been built over the last 30 years.

“Nothing against the students, but in preserving a place like the Cactus Café, you can’t wipe away all that’s there and take it in a different direction. You can’t have Wrigley Field without the Cubs,” Nelson said. “You can’t start saying that the Cubs are going to play at Wrigley Field a couple of days a week and then have lacrosse matches after that. That’s just a recipe for destroying what has been created.”

Despite lacking support from some community members, Nash is receiving support from administration officials, including Gonzalez.

“The Texas Union Board is led by students and the administration believes in them and believes in their ability to move the agenda forward,” Gonzalez said. “[The administration’s] approach gives students the opportunity to debate and discuss on how they want to move this forward. Students can put pretty good plans on the table when you give them the chance.”

In response to the plan to repurpose the Cactus Café, the Student Friends of the Cactus Café (SFOTCC) – a branch of the Friends of the Cactus Café – created its own proposal that was also presented to the Union Board on Feb. 26 and subsequently sent to the Office of the Vice President for further consideration.

Presented in writing by Texas Union Board member and Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor Thomas Garza, the SFOTCC proposal – according to a Feb. 22 press release – would “retain the daily operations and professional management of the Cactus Café and establish the Cactus Café Student Initiatives Program [to] offer paid student internships and a student artists-in-residence program, providing students with greater learning opportunities and financial support.”

“We want to continue the daily operation of the [Cactus Café], we want to make the Cactus financially sustainable in the long-term, and profitable so it isn’t losing $30,000 a year, and we want to start student initiatives,” Zachary Bidner, University senior and co-founder of the SFOTCC, said.

The SFOTCC proposal – which was drafted by both undergraduate and graduate students with input from members of the Austin community, University faculty and staff, local musicians and music professionals – also recommends the formation of a Cactus Café Coordinating Committee (CCCC) to “oversee the Student Initiatives Program, review applications and select student interns, provide recommendations for overall policy and use of the Cactus Café in a manner consistent with its obligations to preserve the fundamental character of the venue and develop projects to better secure its financial future and establish policy and guidelines for programs and projects that expand opportunities for students.”

If formed, the CCCC would consist of seven members – one undergraduate University student, one graduate University student, two University faculty members, one music professional and two Austin community members. The CCCC and the SEC would each select one student and one faculty member, while the music professional and the Austin community members would be selected by the Friends of the Cactus Café.

Immediate financial support for the Student Initiatives Program would come from funds raised by the Friends of the Cactus Café, which as of print, has raised more than $14,000 – over 21 percent of its $66,000 August goal.

“What we’d like to do is build upon what’s there now and address the concerns of the University budget and the concerns of students regarding access,” Nelson said. “Our approach involves taking the current operating model and building off that to help fund student performing artists, fund student internships at the Cactus Café and allowing students a greater say in the booking of the Café, within the whole idea of still preserving the fundamental character. The Café could be a tremendous learning resource for the University and could hold workshops where students can interface with music professionals and learn about the music industry.”

Both Bidner and Nelson each suggested a list of potential programs including working with the business school and the College of Communication on marketing ideas.

“The Cactus Café is a valuable, valuable brand and I think there hasn’t been the structure in place or the funding in place to take advantage of that brand and exploit it in a way that could create tremendous revenue streams for [the Café],” Nelson said. “I think there are future stars walking around the UT campus right now, why not create a program that helps launch their careers and they become ambassadors for Texas, Austin and UT. That’s our vision.”

In addition to the plans proposed by the SEC and the SFOTCC, a third plan also sent to the Office of the Vice President for further evaluation was presented to the Texas Union Board on Feb. 26 by senior University students Taylor Steinberg and John Meller. Similar to the SFOTCC proposal, the proposal put forward by Steinberg and Meller calls for the Cactus Café to remain in its current form but with an increased focus on student involvement.

“The basic idea [of our proposal] is to keep the Cactus going without dismantling the business and integrate more student involvement into it,” Steinberg, who is currently the SEC Music and Entertainment Committee (MEC) chairman, said. “At the core of this [proposal] is creating a really progressive program for training students in the music industry, and the entertainment industry in general.”

Steinberg and Meller’s proposal also focuses on a plan to create “professional opportunities such as internships in marketing, management [and] booking.”

“The Cactus would still maintain its music focus, but we would integrate these professional opportunities as well as provide a venue for students to be able to use,” Steinberg said. “The fact is, that if the Cactus Café continues to exist, which I hope it does, something is going to have to change. My goal with the proposal is to put forward something that is progressive and forward thinking and maybe create a program that would be the first of its kind in the country.”

Photo by Tara Haelle

The Office of the Vice President will report back to the board about the three proposals by April 30. While each side has a different view about what the future of the Cactus Café should be, each agrees that the decision regarding the listening room, which was built in the ‘30s and was once a student diner called the Chuckwagon, greatly affects the Austin community.

State Representative Elliott Naishtat, whose legislative district includes the University, says that the phasing out of the Cactus Café could hurt the relationship between the University and the Austin community.

“Unfortunately, this does affect the community of Austin…I realize that this could also result in negative relations between the University and the city as we have already seen,” Nash said. “Unfortunately, that’s a negative side effect from this decision and we have to deal with it.”

What is most troubling, Naishtat said, is the potential damage to the Austin community’s involvement in University of Texas life if the Cactus is closed.

“I think it’s important to continue the symbiotic relationship between the University of Texas and the Austin community at-large,” Naishtat said. “Each entity brings something to the other and each would be less of what they are without the other.”

Perhaps most impacted by the University Unions’ decision to phase out the Cactus Café is the music community in the city that has become known as the “Live Music Capital of the World.”

“The Cactus Café is almost indescribable in terms of what it has to offer to a music aficionado, a musician and the entire American music community,” Nelson said. “It’s a very, very special place. It is really one of the jewels of listening rooms across the country. It’s launched careers of performers who have gone on to become great ambassadors for Austin, great ambassadors for the University of Texas and great ambassadors for Texas musically.”

Although employees at the Cactus Café will be offered other positions at their current salaries, the decision to repurpose the café particularly affects Griff Luneberg, the café’s manager who has worked there for the last 29 years.

Attempts to reach Luneberg were unsuccessful, but he did release a statement on Feb. 2, stating:

“As a loyal Texas Union employee for the last 29 years, beginning as a UT student, I am disheartened to hear the recent news to phase out the Cactus Café. However, the Cactus staff and I remain committed to keeping the café humming by day, while putting on the shows we have become know for by night, until the last song is sung.”

Pittman, whose Austin Lounge Lizards celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Texas Union theatre on Feb. 20, called the loss of the Cactus Café the end of an era.

“There are other places, but they’re not the same,” Pittman said. “[The Cactus Café and our band are] within a year of each other in age and we’ve just kind of grown up together. It’s our home and it’s going to be an end of an era. It’s become an institution that will be strongly missed when it’s gone.”