By Susannah Waite, Editor-in-Chief
University officials announced Monday that they will sell the property and building originally leased for a new campus restaurant.
The announcement comes after leaders in the United Methodist Church spoke out against the university potentially profiting from the sale of alcohol at the building, located at 23rd Street and Virginia Avenue.
Sodexo, the university’s food service provider, leased the building from the university at the beginning of the academic year. They originally planned to open the restaurant, which officials named Rehearsals, in March.
Concerns about plans to sell beer and wine at the restaurant prompted the sale of the property, said Sandy Pantlik, senior director of university communications.
Officials originally said Sodexo would serve beer and wine at the restaurant, which would be open to the public, and the university would receive a percentage of the business’s profits.
The restaurant will not open prior to the sale, Pantlik said. She also said the 10-year lease agreement with Sodexo is void. Officials previously refused to provide the lease agreement to The Campus.
The executive committee of the board of trustees unanimously approved the sale of the university-owned property, according to a statement released Monday.
The committee met last week to discuss the issue, said Ron Norick, chairman of the board and committee member.
“We decided that the administration would take care of whatever issues that they felt were appropriate on the deal,” Norick said. “Robert Henry’s office will take care of that and report back to us on whatever he wants to do on that particular issue.”
Selling the property and building will be a “cost-cutting measure” for the university, according to Monday’s statement.
Officials are uncertain about a timeline for the sale, but Pantlik said it should occur “as soon as possible.”
“They’re working on the process now,” Pantlik said.
The announcement comes after Bishop Robert E. Hayes, Jr. condemned serving alcohol at the restaurant.
“I would pray that the school would come to realize that we have a lot more to lose than to gain from this,” Hayes said during an interview with News on the Twos, OCU-TV’s student-run newscast.
Hayes serves on the university’s board of trustees as the leader of the Oklahoma Annual Conference of the church. The university receives about $1.2 million annually from the church.
“I think I would have to look at ways to influence the school to cease and desist from going down that road, and I would have to use everything within my power to work to persuade them… to convince them… to implore them this would not be in the best interest of the institution,” Hayes said.
The Methodist Book of Discipline, the official listing of the church’s laws and stances, encourages abstinence from alcohol and reads that the church should avoid financial investments that support the distribution of alcoholic beverages.
A portion of the student handbook policy addressing alcohol and drug use reads: “Oklahoma City University is to be a safe environment free from alcohol and other drugs. It recognizes that the use of alcohol and illegal drugs diminishes the strength and vitality of human resources and the integrity of the institution. It is the intent of the University to educate and encourage students to abstain from alcohol and other drugs.”
University officials decided to sell the building, but David Severe, director of mission and administration for South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, said he still is skeptical about the restaurant.
“I still don’t think it’s a very good deal because of the proximity,” Severe said. “But it may be the best that can be done at this point, given what Sodexo has already put into it and the agreements that were made before there came an awareness in the Methodist circles.”
Kelli Keegan, the university’s director of food services, did not return calls Friday or Monday. She previously told The Campus that selling beer and wine was “part of the business model” for the restaurant.
The issues extend beyond the sale of alcohol to the building’s location, influence and the image the restaurant will project, Severe said.
“I know that the situation is a lot more delicate than I think the administration understood,” he said. “I think the relationship and the apportionment payment is far more fragile than perhaps what they thought.”
Contributing: Hailey Holloway, OCU-TV
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