During the late 1970s and 80s, a prominent part of the Student Union at the University of North Texas was the Rock Bottom Lounge, a student-operated bar and live jazz venue on the bottom floor of the building. The lounge hosted performances by UNT's world-famous Lab Bands, serving beer and wine to students of legal drinking age. The right of the Rock Bottom Lounge to serve alcohol was achieved through a succesful vote by the UNT Board of Regents after years of campus activism and petitoning by student government.



As UNT continues construction on a new University Union, set to open in the Fall of 2015, we think that now is the time to reignite discussion regarding the feasibility of beer and wine sales in the performance space of the new Union, and perhaps even the possibility of a new student-operated bar within this space. Considering that the average age of UNT students is now 21, and as numbers of graduate and non-traditional students continue to grow on this campus, we feel that persuing this goal will break new ground for involvement between students and administration at UNT, and promote an environment of alcohol consumption that is safer, more responsible and more accountable than existing off-campus venues.

The first step begins with you. By showing your support and signing this petition, we can gain the attention of the UNT SGA, the student body, and ultimately the administration of this campus, including President Smatresk.



More information on the history of the Rock Bottom Lounge at UNT can be found at the following links:

http://news.unt.edu/news-releases/unt-celebrate-50-years-student-unions http://www.unt.edu/northtexan/archives/f02/eagletale.htm

http://ntdaily.com/best-student-jazz-at-unt/

More information about the legality of on-campus enterprises serving alcohol at public universities in Texas is located here:

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/feb/26/jeff-wentworth/state-sen-jeff-wentworth-says-texas-universities-d/

This concept study for the new University Union mentions the possibility of alcohol sales briefly, but no consensus is included and the issue has not been addressed since:

http://bsc.untsystem.edu/sites/default/files/ConceptualDesign.pdf