Pool Hall Changes
By: Piper McKeever
On Thursday, January 25, before the first Pool Hall tournament of the semester, important announcements were made regarding changes to how Pool Hall would be managed. Junior Eden Kalaj-Rice, the Pool Hall manager since the fall semester, announced that they would be stepping down from their position due to personal circumstances. Taking over as co-managers are the former assistant manager, sophomore Maya Hanser-Young, and junior Taliah Churchill.
The two met with Reed admin and discussed changes and new guidelines that are being made to the operation of Pool Hall because of concerns over community safety. The managers emphasized that concessions were necessary in order for admin to allow Pool Hall to be maintained and stewarded by students. Regretfully, it was mentioned during the tournament announcements that whether or not the Pool Hall Formal will be held this semester is “still up in the air,” according to Cameron Tanner, Assistant Dean for Student Rights and Responsibilities. Hanser-Young noted that since Tanner’s comment was made, the management is “dedicated to ensuring that Formal still happens” though this means that changes to Formal’s operation will be necessary.
Addressing the history of alcohol being provided in the Pool Hall, Churchill stated, “We know that there has been a history of management distributing beer and such during tournaments, but the management can no longer risk doing so for the consequences would now result in us not having access to the office or the things we need to actually run this space, or worse.” Also due to this history, CSO surveillance of the space could be increased in the coming semester. Churchill reminded students that those who are of age will still be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages inside Pool Hall, and it is not the Pool Hall managers' responsibility to police the students in the space. The Pool Hall manager's office will also now only be accessible to the managers and not to the general student body. Students will not be permitted to hang out in the office or use it as a temporary storage space during tournaments, and the managers will be held accountable for all the items stored inside the manager’s office.
Pool Hall management announced that weekly tournaments will no longer have buy-ins. In a later conversation, the managers emphasized that taking down barriers to participation will hopefully encourage more women and non-binary people to join the tournaments and shift the space from being more male-dominated. Removing buy-ins will hopefully encourage students who are new to or inexperienced at billiards to use tournaments as a chance to improve their game or just have fun.
The managers also expressed a desire for Pool Hall to have repairs done to some of the decor and props in the space and encouraged student photographers to continue to document tourneys and events in Pool Hall. On the overall effect of these changes for students who use Pool Hall, Hanser-Young said, “The changes to Pool Hall going forward are primarily restrictions on management and what the Pool Hall office can and cannot be used for. While this will affect some of our typical operations, Taliah and I are attempting to insulate these effects as much as possible from the student body, and our hope is that these changes will not have a negative impact on the events in Pool Hall or the experiences of the student body in the space. Our goal is to ensure that Pool Hall is a space where everyone feels welcome, whether you’re popping in between classes, hanging out with friends on a weekend, or trying to improve your game.”