On Thursday, May 8, University of Massachusetts Amherst students lined up in the campus center waiting to get into the UPub.

Founded in the 1990s, the often overlooked room situated next to Harvest, has undergone many changes, including being shut down due to Covid-19 back in 2020.

UMass seniors Salvi LoGrasso and Jamison Wrinn waited in line for two hours and were the first patrons in the bar. Their first sips of beer made the wait worth it.

“It was sweet, sweet nectar,” LoGrasso said. “Every single one of my taste buds enjoyed every last bit of hops and malted barley.”

Wrinn and LoGrasso gathered around a table-clothed hightop with their friends, like many of the people in the long room. At one end of the room, DJ Marcielo played a set to get people dancing while at the other end of the room, bartenders served beers, seltzers, iced teas and wine. Guests helped themselves to free pizza and wings through the evening.

The UPub’s one-night-only denim-themed party was coordinated by Michael Borowski and Gianna Naulivou, the incoming president and vice president of the Student Government Association (SGA), and Charlotte Hogan, SGA’s incoming secretary of public relations.

The three don’t take office until June 1, but were determined to make the night happen as a trial run. Their ultimate goal is to re-open UPub full-time.

“We are incredibly proud to reopen the on-campus bar and community hub, the UPub,” Borowski and Naulivou said in a statement. “This was a promise we made during our campaign and are so excited to get to present results to the student body so quickly.”

“We would like to thank UMass Dining for their collaboration on this project and their willingness to collaborate to address student interests,” the statement continued. “The UPub is a huge part of our goals for our term as SGA officers, and to get it off the ground this quick is a very promising step in the right direction.”

UMass senior Sadie Tierney found out about the event through DJ Marcielo’s Instagram, after she saw him playing for an event at the education building. Tierney knew about the UPub beforehand because both of her siblings had gone while attending UMass.

“I was always wanting it to open and I was so excited to find out that it was,” Tierney said. Despite being sad she’ll never get to experience it open full-time; Tierney was happy to be a part of the trial run.

Tierney said she would use the UPub like any other bar if it were open regularly.

“It’s a disservice to the students not having this open full time,” Wrinn said. “The demand’s there, people will pay.”

The drink prices were “comparable to bar prices,” according to UMass senior Ryan Carroll, but some students were displeased with them.

The drinks were priced based on other events on campus, according to UMass Dining director Garett DiStefano, with a beer being $8 and a glass of wine $10.

“We can always look at ways that we could make it a little more student friendly but at the same time being responsible with what we have to do,” DiStefano said. “You can’t say that one event is lower price and another one is higher price. You kind of have to be fair to all events.”

The most popular drink of the night was Sun Cruisers, a vodka-based iced tea, according to bartender Jacob Ketchakeu.

Wrinn said if UPub were open full-time he’d be there all the time, whether it be after failing a test, just to socialize or as a pregame spot.

“It was fun seeing the mix of backpacks and going out clothes,” LoGrasso said, quoting his friend. “That’s exactly what UPub should be.”

While many were excited to be a part of the fun, it wasn’t perfect for everyone. Izzy Hall, a UMass student, went in to see what it was about and left shortly after.

“I just got hit with a wave of that smell of alcohol,” Hall said. “I felt my eyes tear up a little bit.”

The turnout was higher than the organizers expected based on the interaction with the Instagram flyer. At its peak, the line to get in stretched from UPub to Wasabi in Blue Wall.

“Knowing this type of a turnout, then let’s see what we can do to continue to make this happen,” DiStefano said.

Piper Morgan can be reached at [email protected].