The Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU) senators voted to clear the Bistro’s current debt of $9,928 on Nov. 14. The Bistro started this year with $13,837 left over from the 2023-24 fiscal year, lowering the debt since then to $9,928. Ultimately, ASWU has supported the Bistro with $64,928 since 2020.
ASWU President Anastasiia Lemesh (’26) said she “was excited” to continue to help the Bistro. According to a statement to The Collegian from Madeline Montanye (’25), the Bistro’s general manager, this ASWU aid will help them to “make a profit and build our nest-egg back up.” Montanye claimed that they are receiving much more business this year than in previous years, which should further help the Bistro rise from their financial issues, and added that ASWU’s help is “something of a ladder to help the Bistro pay off its loan to the university.”
The Bistro has been in a consistent negative deficit since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led them to seek help from ASWU. Additionally, while the decision to provide funding was made by the ASWU senators, President Lemesh and Treasurer Stevie Bergstrom (’26) reached out to Montanye with the offer of support at the beginning of the school year, according to Montanye.
The Bistro is a popular space on campus for students to study, see friends, and potentially find employment, and as such its financial success is a priority for ASWU. Lemesh added on to the importance of the Bistro as a student-run coffee shop on campus: “Just to have that space, that is truly a student space, without university control, is just such a good vibe,” Lemesh said.
This help from ASWU will allow the Bistro managers to “focus on providing a comfortable and affordable space for the student body,” said Montanye, and will further give the Bistro “the ability to grow and develop,” as Lemesh described. This means more focus on fixing equipment, maintaining the space, and valuing staff and customers.
ASWU also initiated bylaws between itself and the Bistro to further communicate, expressing ideas for semester check-ins between executives from both areas along with plans to vote each year about funding with senators, according to senator Katelyn Rosales (’28). All of this communication would allow students a continual understanding of the contracts between ASWU and the Bistro.
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