Every semester, students gather in the Beehive for the Student Activities Board run event coffee house. At this gathering, coffee is served along with other treats, while a musician of SAB’s choice performs.

SAB hosts four coffee houses a semester with different artists at each one. Students can either stay, grab coffee and a ticket or take the coffee to go. If they stay, they can exchange their ticket for a coffee mug at the end of the performance.

Most students tend to grab the coffee to go because of their busy schedules, however, others prefer to sit and listen to the music. Ryan Smith, assistant director of student activities, said some people come for the music, some for the coffee and others come for the mugs.

“I think it’s a range of all of those things,” Smith said.

Mallory Stopko, freshman forensic science major, said she attends every coffee house. The reason she keeps coming back is mostly because of the coffee and she considers the live music is a bonus.

There are many students who share the same philosophy as Stopko, however, there are also others who come for purely the entertainment. One of these students is sophomore arts administration major Samantha Morad.

“Personally, as an arts administration major, I come for the music. I like to talk to the artists,”  Morad said.

As a member of SAB, Morad is usually working during the coffeehouse. Even if she doesn’t sign up to work, however, she usually still comes anyway.

“My perspective on everyone else is that I feel like it’s a mix,” Morad said. . “There are people that do come for the mugs because we do get some nice mugs, but then also it’s free coffee, So, who’s not going to take advantage of the opportunity? Then there are other people out there like me.”

SAB hosts these events for students to take a break from studying and gain a fun experience with friends. Smith said usually around 150 to 200 students attend coffeehouse, however, there is still a decent amount of students that grab coffee and leave.

“It’s discouraging when people come just to eat and then leave or when they come and grab a free thing and then leave,” he said. “Because that’s really for the people who are attending the event to just get the whole experience.”

In an effort to get students to stay for the whole hour, SAB started handing out tickets in the beginning of coffeehouse and then collecting them at the end in exchange for a mug.

“We started the whole ticketing piece because we were having a lot of people who would just come over at 8:00, grab a coffee mug and then leave,” Smith said.

“We want people to come and spend an hour with us and enjoy the time, so that way they don’t have to go to Pittsburgh, Morgantown [or] Washington and go and experience a band or something like that,” he said..

Smith said SAB  wants people to come, enjoy the coffee and listen to the performer. The performers are chosen by the board’s musical and entertainment committee, but Smith said they are open to suggestions.