Photo Courtesy of Grace Contreni Flynn ’25
Humphrey’s, Connecticut College’s on-campus bar, is a fun spot full of good vibes. However, I believe that it is not living up to its full potential. Now, this has nothing to do with how it’s operated – the staff at Humphrey’s are all wonderful. The beer is cheap (which is important for us college students). The vibe is perfect for a campus bar: fun and lowkey. It’s perfect to come for a few drinks, chat with friends, play pool, and maybe even sing some karaoke.
What’s holding Humphrey’s back is when it operates, not how it operates. Humphrey’s is only open on Thursday nights. While various social groups on campus may differ in their habits, most of Conn’s campus primarily goes out on Thursday and Saturday nights. Friday nights generally serve as a night to relax or socialize more casually.
In my experience, for most Conn students, going out on Thursday nights (the one night of the week when Humphrey’s is open) means leaving campus to go to the various bars in New London, Groton, or even Mystic. Many students will go to parties at the River Ridge or Winchester apartments, if not the bars.
My friends (those of legal drinking age) and I go to Humphrey’s every once in a while, maybe one to two Thursday nights every semester. It’s always fun, and there is a decent crowd, but it often feels like it has more potential. The challenge is that the culture developed on campus means that most students would rather leave campus on the one night of the week when Humphrey’s is open.
What if we moved the one night of the week when Humphrey’s is open from Thursday to Friday? I believe this could go a long way towards creating a stronger on-campus social culture, at least for the upperclassmen for whom Humphreys is available. Since most of the student body stays on campus and doesn’t go out on Friday nights, having Humphreys as an option would almost certainly lead to more students taking advantage of the awesome on-campus bar.
Being located in Crozier-Williams, Humphrey’s is a one to three-minute walk from anywhere on campus and six to eight minutes from the Ridges and Winches. With Friday nights being when those looking to have a few drinks generally want to keep it casual, Humphrey’s would be a perfect alternative to dorm rooms, on-campus apartments, or local off-campus bars. It would be easy to run into friends from other groups on campus, but it’s also low-key and relaxed enough to provide a break from the high-energy environment of bars on Thursday and Saturday nights.
What are the potential cons of moving Humphrey’s night of operation? There are certainly students who would rather not go out or drink at all between Thursday and Saturday, truly using Friday as a break. Speaking from experience, sometimes that’s a very nice option.
There’s also the issue that it would rule out most in-season athletes from visiting Humphrey’s. Most teams will have games, regattas, or races on Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays too). Many teams have a 24 or 48-hour rule, and members of teams that don’t have such rules still won’t be found drinking at a bar the night before a competition. Given the size of Conn, athletes are an immense part of the social life and party culture on campus. Athletes are certainly not the only driving force of the party scene. However, at a small college with no Greek life and a large athlete population, the culture of these teams significantly impacts the overall social scene and schedule. While Humphrey’s being open Fridays as opposed to Thursdays would likely take any in-season athletes out of the equation, it’s important to note that only about 30 to 50 percent of total athletes at Conn are in season at any given time, depending on the time of the year. Take it from me: when we are out of season, we like to live it up. Circling back to one of my original points, even when Humphrey’s is open on Thursdays, most students – athletes and non-athletes alike – prioritize on-campus parties and the off-campus bar scene anyway.
At the end of the day, this is an issue of competition. Even though most students are more likely to go out on Thursdays and Saturdays than Fridays, Humphrey’s has to compete with the local bar scene, parties, and any other plans that students may have on a Thursday night. Were it to be open on Saturdays, the same would be true. If operations were to move to Fridays, you would lose the in-season athlete crowd. However, plenty of students at Conn are not athletes; at any point of the year, around half (if not more) of athletes are out of season.
Given our campus’s current social and party culture, Humphrey’s would face little to no competition if operations moved one day in the week, which would likely mean a significant uptick in students dropping in our on-campus bar. As I have repeatedly stated, the atmosphere there is perfect for the Friday night vibe on campus. This could potentially help build school spirit and class camaraderie. Humphrey’s is a really fun spot that more students should take advantage of, and the best way to accomplish this within the current campus culture would be to shift its operations from Thursday night to Friday night.
