Sabre Cafe connects, caffeinates Marian University students, community

Matthew Day

Staff

October 7, 2024

FOND DU LAC – Since Aaron Sadoff became the 18th president of Marian University in June, he said he’s been able to appreciate the college’s stability – while recognizing not all institutions have had such fortune in recent years.

“Higher education is in a pinch all over the place,” he said. “What I see is Marian University poised to be successful from a financial standpoint to a programmatic standpoint. There are so many great things that have been done here, from past presidents, past staff, faculty and students.”

As he looks to build on that legacy via collaboration, Sadoff said a common refrain continued to address a seemingly less-than-consequential issue, but one he said broadly impacted the quality of the campus experience.

“There’s one thing I heard over and over – ‘you’ve got to get that coffee shop going,’” he said. “We needed to invest resources into this area to make it what it is. We talk about student life. I mean, what’s the reason for people to stay on campus if you can’t get something to eat or drink?”

Within just more than two months – and in time for Marian’s fall semester – the Sabre Cafe held its grand opening, serving students, faculty and community members alike.

Located in the Todd Wehr Alumni Center, the Sabre Cafe offers full beverage and food service from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and beverages until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Brooke Spanbauer, director of hospitality at the college, said the cafe fills a void created following the closure of the previous operation – which left the former coffee shop space sorely underutilized. 

“We’d been open here and there to do grab-and-go’s and small items, but we hadn’t been a fully functioning shop in a while,” she said. “We did coffees but not lattes or anything special like that.” 

Callista Gould, assistant vice president for marketing and communications at Marian, said the university had been without a legitimate coffee shop for about a year and a half. 

“I think we didn’t quite know what to do with it,” Gould said of the space. “Aaron came in, and he had the solution – (which included local collaboration).”

Beans, bites and a blueprint

Sadoff said he is a regular patron of Beans & Bites, a coffee shop and cafe in North Fond du Lac owned by Danielle Joslin – a former colleague of his from Fond du Lac High School. 

“In early June, I stopped and got a cup of coffee, and I said, ‘hey, Danielle – could you come out to Marian and check out this space and see if you could help us get it set up?’” Sadoff said.

Joslin said she and Sadoff would often chat about things happening at the university – knowing he was now the president.

“We talked about what (the shop) would look like, and I acted as a consultant,” she said.

Joslin said before she and her daughter Haleigh could agree to the consulting role, they had to first consider their capacity to operate Beans & Bites (which opened in 2022) at the high level its customers expect.

When the decision was ultimately made to work with Marian, Joslin said they developed a plan with cafe staff to maintain operations in their occasional absence.

Underscoring her commitment to her main business – as well as its mobile cafe partner, Curbside Coffee – Joslin said not only did she never consider branding the new cafe as a new location of Beans & Bites, but she and Haleigh also developed an entirely new menu.

“We created a menu that was different from ours because we have a different customer base (at Sabre Cafe),” she said. “Some of the things that sell there wouldn’t fly here, and vice versa.”

Joslin said both operations will serve espresso and a daily brew made from BOOM Fair Trade Organic coffee, but Sabre Cafe features its own line of specialty lattes (including the Sabretooth), chais, frappes, teas, smoothies, matchas and more – as well as food options, including wraps, salads and acai and yogurt bowls.

“Everything’s completely separate,” Spanbauer said. “(Joslin) built it that way. It’s our own entity.” 

Joslin said she and Haleigh worked through the summer preparing the menu and the space, securing vendors and collaborating with Spanbauer on staffing and logistics ahead of the grand opening Aug. 20.

“Now our consulting part is done, and we just manage, do the ordering, training and retraining and checking in every day to see what needs to be done, and how to direct the student workers,” Joslin said.

Sadoff said he knew from working with Joslin in the past that she would succeed.

“She has an acumen for business,” he said. “She understands how to hire and support and develop people. She’s done all of our handbooks for how to make a wrap, how to function in the kitchen and cleaning – and she’s been a really good teammate to work with Spanbauer.”

Sadoff said Joslin’s goal, as time goes on, is to step back – to let Sabre Cafe and Marian take this over.

“It’s just that right now, we need a little bit of help,” she said. “Her and her daughter and Beans & Bites – they’ve been a great group of people.”

Joslin said she appreciates that Marian University trusted her and Haleigh with the project.

“We hope that it continues to grow and thrive,” she said.

Perking up student life, brewing community 

With the Sabre Cafe, Sadoff said the goals go well beyond its drinks and eats.

He said the cafe represents a stronger campus culture – which can factor into student recruitment and retention. 

Gould said presently, about 1,200 bachelor’s and master’s program students are enrolled at Marian.

Sadoff said roughly half of those students are involved with the university’s athletic programs – with Sabres teams active in ice hockey, field hockey and many other sports. 

“Like many universities, we have a two-year requirement of living on campus,” he said. “We have a dorm, but then we have townhouses, we have apartment complexes and we have duplexes. We see some of our students staying on campus for more than just those two years.”

Currently, Sadoff said Marian has just under 400 students living on campus.

“We’re working on making those living spaces even more inviting – to make people want to live here so that they can experience this college life,” he said.

As a graduate of Marian himself, Sadoff said he was keenly aware of the campus’ lack of a coffee shop like the one he regularly enjoyed as a student.

Spanbauer said the temporary grab-and-go space didn’t serve students’ social needs.

“Even though it was open for them to come and use this space, a lot of students didn’t feel like they were invited to come and use it like that,” she said.

Gould said the Sabre Cafe brings some of Beans & Bites’ welcoming atmosphere to the campus – all the more important, she said, as Marian has students from 45 states and 18 different countries.

“That kind of homey vibe is what we go for on this campus,” she said. “When a kid comes here from St. John, British Columbia – 14 hours north of Vancouver – we want them to find a home here and be welcomed. We want to be their home away from home.” 

Sadoff and Spanbauer said the cafe also provides students recreation options with its game room (featuring a Marian Sabres bubble hockey game) and events, including trivia, dinners, parties and a forthcoming “zombie run” – courtesy of activities director Stephanie Carpenter.

With the cafe employing students, Spanbauer said she receives applications daily.

In keeping with the university’s founding principles as put forth by the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes, Sadoff said Marian prioritizes developing students into well-rounded community members – with the Sabre Cafe positively aiding that mission.

“We haven’t even tapped into the community as much as we can,” he said regarding the cafe’s potential. “It’s what we wanted it to be, and it’s already becoming more than that.”

Only a little more than a month in, Spanbauer said, “we’re succeeding beyond belief.”

“To see it grow and go past our goals already is just amazing,” she said.

Sadoff said starting his tenure as university president with a new coffee shop is an exciting first step in his greater goals.

“What I really love is how the university can make a difference in the community,” he said. “The goal is – if you want to talk big, audacious goals – when people say, ‘hey, what are the best college towns in Wisconsin?’ They’ll say, ‘Madison and Fond du Lac… and then there are some other ones.’ We’re not quite there yet.”

Find more information about the Sabre Cafe on its social media platforms.