UT Student Group Forms to Save Cactus Cafe

A student group has formed at the University of Texas in hopes of keeping the Cactus Cafe open.  The Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe group was formed on Friday, and will have its first meeting Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the Quadrangle Room of the Texas Union.

The Cactus Cafe has become the focus of rescue efforts after a January 29th vote by the Texas Union Board to close the venue in August, along with discontinuing Informal Classes.  The closures are a belt-tightening move on the part of UT, although there has been criticism by community groups that the money saved is a drop in the bucket compared to the University's overall budget.

While the Cactus Cafe is viewed by many as a venue for the larger Austin community, Hayley Gillespie, an integrative biology graduate student and co-founder of the student group, pointed out to The Daily Texan that it is used frequently by alumni and graduate students, like other UT attractions such as the Harry Ransom Center and the Texas Memorial Museum.

The Student Friends of the Cactus Cafe group was formed about a week after Friends of the Cactus Cafe, a nonprofit group, was started by UT alumnus and Austin attorney Reid Nelson.