By Logan Monteleone
Business and Distribution Manager
The opening of a pub on Washington College’s campus this month is the result of shared planning and vision among students, faculty, staff, and alumni who recognized the need for a social space that the entire College community can enjoy.
A campus-wide poll was sent out last semester to determine the name of the pub, “The Golden Goose,” which is located in the Faculty Lounge in Hodson Hall. While an official opening date has not yet been determined a “pub preview” is scheduled for Feb. 8.
As mentioned in previous Elm coverage, a permanent bar has been the goal of the weekly evening gatherings known as Shoreline Socials. Sophomore Zach Tipton has been the student leader of the project since the idea for a pub arose from his group in the Presidential Leadership Summit in 2024.
“The vision was always… to have a bar or a pub on campus, and Shoreline Socials was…. that first kind of stepping point to get the feel and idea of having a weekly social gathering out there,” Tipton said.
Since the pub was first proposed at the Leadership Summit last year, Tipton has worked closely with administrators from Student Affairs, leaders from the Student Government Association and the Student Events Board, and students and faculty from the Business Department who helped to develop a business model for the pub.
Tipton said that “making friends, making social connections, [and] enjoying these four years while we’re getting our education” is a valuable part of the college experience.
Recognizing the desire among students “for more to do on campus,” Tipton has been largely motivated to devote his energy to the project out of his belief in “having a space for students to be able to come together and enjoy that small college atmosphere of knowing [other] students, faculty, staff and being able to interact with them” outside of the classroom.
Associate Vice President of Advancement Emily Kate Smith ‘10 said that the President’s Leadership Council, a group of alumni, and friends of the College who were influential in making the pub possible, began their mission to engage with and advocate for campus improvements last year.
Smith said that a few members of the Council ran into Tipton on campus and realized their ability to support the development of Shoreline Socials into a permanent pub. President’s Leadership Council Chair Brooke Frank ‘92 was “the leading charge” and “driving force” in making the pub happen, Smith said.
Smith and Vice President of Advancement Susie Chase ‘90 explained that the former existence of a student-run pub on the WC campus, known as the Coffee House, contributed to the nostalgic feelings among many alumni who wanted to provide current students with a space like the one they once enjoyed.
The project was made financially possible by no more than ten donors, including one $50,000 challenge grant “within hours of the first letter going out,” Chase said.
The pub illustrates the capacity community members have to make an impact and to facilitate positive change at the College, Chase said.
“From the students to the alumni to the parents, like we always say, if you put your shoulder in with Washington College, you can feel it move,” Chase said.
Having watched the project develop from the very beginning, President of Student Affairs Tricia Biles has enjoyed watching The Golden Goose transform “from a seed of an idea that students brought forward thinking it was far-fetched, to actual implementation,” she said.
Biles said that she is excited that the pub’s partnership with AVI will allow for late-night dining options at the MET Grill, which will have a set menu for the evening and be deliverable to the pub through ordering on the MET app.
Biles hopes that the creation of the pub inspires students to believe in their ideas at WC.
“I just love the reinforcement and the message it sends to students, that they can dream it and then we can live it,” Biles said.
Vice President of Student Affairs Sarah Feyerherm said that a centralized place for gathering is important on small liberal arts campuses like WC’s, and that Shoreline Socials “showed us that groups will come together” and that “the faculty and staff are like, at the end of a long day, ‘yeah, maybe I’ll just pop over,’” Feyerherm said.
While a number of college campuses have their own pubs, including St. Mary’s College and Gettysburg College, alcohol-related safety risks keep many institutions from having their own establishments.
Director of Public Safety Chief Ryan Colman said, however, that he has no safety concerns with the WC pub, considering PS has been “included in all planning meetings for the implementation” and have “iron[ed] out any and all concerns that came up in the beginning, which were all minor.”
In addition to noting the safety value of having a place for students to gather without needing to travel, Chief Colman praised the careful planning executed by the development team.
“I feel we have covered every angle from securing the alcohol properly to dealing with fraudulent ID’s, [and from] pub staff receiving proper trainings [to] the overall safety of the entire establishment,” Chief Colman said.
Photo by Olivia Long.
Photo Caption: A New Pub is coming to campus which will allow people to socialize and let loose on the weekend.