Liquor license could be college buzz

Private colleges could more easily add buzz to alumni parties, donor dinners or other catered events — namely, bubbly, beer or other alcoholic beverages.

HF1174, sponsored by House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee Chairman Joe Hoppe (R-Chaska), would allow municipalities to grant liquor licenses to private, nonprofit colleges with a caterer’s permit or that contract with a licensed caterer for on-site events.

The committee laid the bill over

April 12 for possible inclusion in an omnibus liquor bill. Sen. Chris Gerlach (R-Apple Valley) sponsors a companion, SF918, which awaits action by the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee.

The bill is not intended to help campuses open a pub or bar. A University of St. Thomas neighborhood advisory group whose concerns squashed a similar effort on its St. Paul campus last year voted in February to support the bill, according to Doug Hennes, the university’s vice president for university and government relations. He said they did so in good faith that the university would negotiate such conditions as hours of sale, and that there would be no bar on campus.

The law could apply to 17 colleges in the state, said Scott McMahon, director of government relations and community affairs for the Minnesota Private College Council. Of those, several have indicated they would pursue a license, others may want to explore the possibility with their municipality and still others do not want any alcohol on campus.

Hennes said colleges can already contract with caterers for such events, but having their own license makes it more efficient and much less expensive to do so. The university’s Minneapolis campus has a license, as does Augsburg College.