[media-credit id=1510 align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]On most Thursday nights, students walk into the Bobcat Den, better known as the Ratt to grab some food, maybe a sandwich, and head back to their room for the night. But this Thursday, the Bobcat Den will transform into the Bobcat Bean, with live music, comedy and free pastries and coffee.

The event, hosted by the junior class cabinet, will be held from 8-10 p.m. in all three levels of the Bobcat Den.

Mondo’s Subs will remain open throughout the night on the first floor, accompanied by an acoustic and comedic performance from 8-9 p.m. From 9-10 p.m., the mic will be open to any students interested in playing music, reading poetry, etc., newly elected student body president Mostafa Elhaggar said.

The second floor will be transformed into a “typical coffee house” with board games, newspapers and large comfortable chairs where students can relax or do some work, Elhaggar said.

The third floor, which usually holds the grilled food, will have complimentary pastries, coffee and a candy bar.

The event is designed to provide students with an alternative, rather than always having to go to New Haven on the weekends.

“My hope is to create an alternative for students to participate in that doesn’t have to be shipping off to New Haven and to offer this type of relaxation,” Elhaggar said. “We have empty rooms all over the school, we have the rotunda where you can sit and do your homework, but it is not the same when you are in a coffee-shop type of atmosphere. The lights are going to be dim, it is going to be really calming.”

Facilities, Residential Life and Chartwells helped SGA prepare for the event.

“The administration is doing a fabulous job of being really open and trying to find a way to satisfy the students who don’t want to partake in these activities on the weekends,” Elhaggar said.

Vice President of Facilities and Capital Planning Salvatore Filardi said the university may build a coffee shop in new residence halls on the York Hill campus.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we would like to build that kind of space on campus,” he said. “But hopefully [the Bobcat Bean event will] give us some insight as to where the students flock.”

If the event is successful and students provide good feedback, Elhaggar and the rest of his cabinet will work to see if a coffee house could be implemented on campus.

“Usually with our events we try to gage our student body to see what the population is feeling, if there is an interest for whatever we want to work on and then try and go from there,” junior class representative Madeline Harding said.

Elhaggar and Harding encourage students to attend the event and provide their feedback.

“This is our event but it’s Quinnipiac’s project,” Elhaggar said. “It is the student’s project.”

Elhaggar said this is his first opportunity as president to stay true to his word to “empower the students.”

“This is totally up to the students in terms of if this is actually going to happen or not, whether we are going to have a coffee shop or not,” Elhaggar said. “It is the responsibility of the students to take part in their community and be active and attend this event.”