Keeping in line with previous tradition, the Benefit Club will honor patrons who complete the event by adding their names to a plaque that is displayed at the bar annually. However, unlike the previous incarnation, this year’s event asks participants to donate funds for charity rather than buy 50 alcoholic drinks in a quarter.
Currently, 232 people are participating in the Benefit Club.
The Study Hall owner and UCSB alumnus Daniel Baham said the Benefit Club will raise money for local nonprofit Child Abuse Listening & Mediation and provide a unifying community for regulars and patrons.
“Simply put, students have the option to donate toward [C.A.L.M] each time they come in,” Baham said in an e-mail. “The fact that they donated — there is no monetary limit — is recorded by us each day. At the end of the quarter, those who donated on a regular basis will get their name immortalized on a plaque in The Study Hall as having assisted in raising money for [C.A.L.M].”
Beau Weaver, a bartender at The Study Hall, said the goal of the event is to raise $10,000 for C.A.L.M. over 10 weeks. The bar has reportedly raised about $2,500 so far.
According to C.A.L.M.’s Development Director Monica Intaglietta, the charity was founded in 1970 to prevent stressed parents from harming their children.
“C.A.L.M. remains the only private, nonprofit agency in Santa Barbara County whose sole mission is to prevent, assess and treat child abuse and family violence by providing comprehensive, culturally competent services for children, adults and families,” Intaglietta said.
Until last year, the bar had been providing a free end-of-the-year party and a place on the bar’s “Hall of Fame” to those who purchased a minimum of 50 alcoholic beverages at their bar during Spring Quarter.
According to Nicholas Sartuche, a department investigator for California’s Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, his office shut down the 50 Club promotion last year on grounds of violating Section 106 of the California Code of Regulation, which prohibits any ABC licensee from giving away anything of value. Participants in the 50 Club promotion two years ago were treated to a free ride downtown on Bill’s Bus for an open bar party and a complimentary T-shirt and shot glass.
Baham said the The Study Hall’s punishment included a 15-day suspension, a complete stop to the 50 Club promotion and probation for one year.
UCSB alumnus Jennifer Kerum said even though the old Club is gone, the spirit of the community that was built around it is still present.
“As a 50 Club veteran of three years in a row, I feel like I know the essence of what 50 Club is really about,” Kerum said in an e-mail. “Fifty Club isn’t about the open bar party at the end of the quarter or the free T-shirt. 50 Club is about the people and Study Hall. 50 Club represents everything that is UCSB. 50 [Club] is special. 50 Club is unique. And even though it is no longer … the essence and what it really means to participate in 50 Club is still there.”
Sid Ho, a fourth-year history major, said he is participating to be part of I.V. culture.
“I’m doing [Benefit] Club because I wanted to be part of an I.V. tradition,” Ho said.
According to Weaver, getting one’s name on the plaques in The Study Hall is still an integral part of I.V. culture.
“It’s always on the bucket list,” Weaver said.
The final day of the Benefit Club is tentatively set for June 3 to allow graduating patrons who participated in the event to see their plaque before they leave UCSB. Students that cannot make it to the bar can make donations up to seven days in advance.
IV culture is quickly evaporating… just another sad sign that UCSB is losing part of its identity. Glad I’m outta there!