(metal gate rattles)
(thuds)
(clicking) (upbeat acoustic music)
- It's almost impossible to say
what I like about People's Place
because I like everything about People's Place.
- People's Place is an incredibly warm
and special institution.
I don't think there's anything like it on campus,
here at SU.
- I have professors that were like,
"I came to Syracuse as a student
and I came to People's Place,
and now I'm teaching and you're still here."
Like, that is so cool.
- Like, my dad went here
and he remembers People's Place being a thing,
so that feels like forever ago (laughs).
- It is an oasis.
It's a place to rest and relax
and be with folks that you wanna be with.
That's been the way it was from the beginning.
- My understanding of the history is
that in the early 1970s,
it was really in response to the need for community.
- You know, you have to go back to the time.
(1970s-style music)
In the time, there were no places on campus
where you could get anything to eat.
Hardly any place where you could do anything
but go to class.
There was no student center, the library wasn't built yet.
(upbeat music)
In 1970, the student strike after the Kent State shootings,
the whole strike center was at the Chapel.
People were cooking food and sleeping up in the Chapel
and the demonstrations took place on the Quad.
It became apparent to us that there was a place needed
for people to gather.
So we decided to start a coffee
and donuts kind of operation,
and to do it on the honor system.
So each day we'd make coffee and put out donuts,
and the coffee and donuts would disappear,
and there wasn't too much honor (laughs)
regarding the money.
And so fall of '71,
we began more of a traditional storefront,
pretty much as it is now.
- And People's Place was born.
(laughing)
- I think one of the things that makes People's Place
so special is just this deep sense of community.
We strive to be an inclusive place on campus
where anyone can go to get a cup of coffee
or just have a conversation and feel comfortable
and feel like they belong at SU.
- I like the way it makes me feel,
I like interacting with our students at People's Place.
It is comfortable and casual and, you know, caffeinated.
- [Willow] We are kind of a hub in campus
of some like, lighthearted nonsense,
which I think can really be nice
when you're teaching all day or you're working all day.
- As the Dean of the Chapel,
not only am I a facilitator of this building,
but I am also a frequent customer of People's Place.
Before I came to Syracuse University,
I think I'd maybe had three cups
of coffee in my entire life.
We usually get about three down before noon now.
- [Willow] We have a lot of regulars.
We know their names, they know our names.
And I think that environment draws people in
because they're excited to be part of that campus community.
- [Thomas] One of, I think, our most beloved regular is Joe.
I believe he's in the geography department.
- I have been coming to People's Place since 2001,
so just about exactly 20 years.
- [Willow] Good morning, Joe!
- [Joe] Hello Willow!
- [Sarah] What would you like today, Joe?
- It's just special to have these relationships.
I would've never met Joe, but now through People's Place,
I know such a wonderful person.
- [Sarah] Thank you, Joe.
- I like to go where I feel warm and invited,
and this is a great place for that.
Of course, I like the coffee and the food here,
but it is the people.
- Thank you!
(cheerful music)
- [Maraam] People's Place is run by the student community
for a campus community
and I think that's absolutely beautiful.
All of these years, decades later in fact,
the spirit still exists.
(upbeat music)
- [Ted] There've been changes at the chapel and upgrades
and they redid the Noble Room,
but, you know, basically it is what it was.
And that's kind of reassuring in a way
to know that that's still there.
- People's Place makes Syracuse University a better place
because it's that reminder that these buildings,
these institutions, they're ultimately about people.
They're about people.
They're about relationships
and they're about the ways in which learning,
knowledge and wisdom happens when people come together
and share ideas.
(acoustic guitar music)
- Everyone feels welcome at People's Place.