A bar-like Student Union space is now closed to late-night diners.

Sodexo General Manager Kevin Dicey has indicated the closing was due to a lack of patrons at the Mt. Cat Club.

However, we do not believe that is the sole reason for the club’s closing.

We remember the Mt. Cat Club often being crowded at night, with a line of patrons waiting to pay for their nightly snacks.

It is easy to blame customers for the Mt. Cat Club’s closing.

With smart and innovative management, it may have been possible for the club to rejuvinate.

Patrons might have abused the generosity associated with a good deal, but that was their choice to take advantage of it. Now, they have no choice but not to attend the club.

All they have is one fewer place on campus to gather and socialize with other students around food. There needs to be attention paid to students’ social lives on campus, and losing a venue like the Mt. Cat Club is not a good change.

First, fraternity members are no longer allowed to host open parties.

Now, the Mt. Cat Club is no longer open for students to gather at night.

People should be able to notice and utilize the vacant Mt. Cat Club’s potential, yet they have failed.

There are a lot of potential places for students to gather that are not being used.

This is not entirely Sodexo’s problem.

The Athletic Department would probably like to have students gather at its events, but so few attend that we could not see them as viable socialization options for students.

The Programming Board should have enough funds to be able to create an environment for students to socialize around campus.

Funding is not the issue; a lack in ideas and motivation are.

The campus needs new and innovative ideas for places where its students can gather to socialize, and it is about time that someone starts to throw mud at the wall and take notes on how much of it sticks.

The campus also deserves better ideas than to simply close a shop, only to reopen a similar shop with a new name.

Jazzman’s turned into The Daily Grind. The Mt. Cat Club’s replacement might as well be called the Locked-up Lonely Cat Club.