Once the center of student life at Oxford College, Dooley’s Tavern now lies largely dormant, only open to the public a couple of days a year. The 100-year-old weathered building houses Oxford’s history, its walls covered in layers of graffiti and names scrawled in spray paint by students leaving their mark on campus.
However, the building is set to be permanently closed in the near future. Oxford College Dean Badia Ahad announced the “difficult” decision earlier this month, leaving some in the Oxford community, like Amelia Persons (25Ox), president of Dooley’s Dolls, Oxford’s only social club, feeling “heartbrok[en]” and “saddened.”
Dooley’s Tavern was built in 1913 as a dining hall connected to the back of Haygood Hall. It was the only part of the residential hall that was left unscathed by a campus fire in the ’80s, and later construction of a new dining hall rendered the tTavern’s original purpose useless. According to Ahad’s email, it has deteriorated significantly throughout the years. She added that after decades of prioritizing other facilities on campus, the costs needed to renovate the tavern were too high to justify keeping it open.
“This was a difficult decision,” Ahad wrote in an email to The Emory Wheel. “I recognize the significance of campus traditions and am committed to preserving the spirit of Dooley’s Tavern in a new space that our community will enjoy for many years to come.”
In the past, students filled the tavern for “tavern parties” where students could smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol inside, before Georgia raised the legal drinking age to 21, according to Former Oxford College Dean of Campus Life Joseph Moon. He added that over the years, the building fell into disrepair and sporadic student interest caused the tavern to lie unused for most of the semester. Recently, students have only been able to go inside a few times a year, mostly for special events.
Despite this, many students feel that Dooley’s Tavern remains emblematic of Oxford’s campus and culture. Micah Lee (25Ox) told the Wheel that despite its limited usage by students today, the space played a large role in Oxford’s history.
“It feels like a piece of Oxford is being lost,” Lee said.
Moon, who has been at Oxford College for 35 years, recalls having fond memories of the tavern, such as including it as a stop during his Oxford Halloween tours.
“It’s always been a little dog-eared,” Moon said. “I think that’s part of its charm.”
Moon noted that students have always appreciated its run-down appearance.
“It really had a sense of being a student place,” Moon said. He added that the graffiti, concrete floors and used furniture distinguished the tavern from any place on the Atlanta campus.
The space also carries historical significance for many current and former students at Oxford. Dooley’s Dolls has called the tavern home for nearly 70 years.
“Every member of Dolls is given a dolls-specific name,” Persons said. “One of the highlights of graduating from Oxford and being a Dolls member is that you get to write your Dolls name on the walls of the tavern.”
The inside of the building is lined with rows and rows of names, some of which have been there for years, Persons said. Joined by the names of students are those of faculty members, such as former dining hall employeeLillian Long (after whom Oxford’s dining hall, Lil’s, is named) and memorials for Dolls who have passed away, according to Persons.
“Past Dolls were texting me and being like, ‘Is there any way I can come back and carve my name out of the wall?’ That’s how much [the tavern] means to these members,” Persons said.
Oxford Student Government Association (OxSGA) President Kenan Bajraktarevic (25Ox) said that in the past, students have largely used the tavern as a “third space,” a term used to refer to a location separate from both home and work or classes. Bajraktarevic noted that the lack of such spaces at Oxford is detrimental to the student body.
“I personally was really excited when I got into the presidency to get Dooley’s Tavern back,” Bajraktarevic said. “I was hoping that the opening of Dooley’s Tavern could be just one of many ways we try to not only make campus fun, but also target the issues we've had with mental health.”
Bajraktarevic noted that Oxford’s small, isolated community can make it difficult for students to find a place to rest outside of classwork and extracurriculars. He said that replacements for the tavern would try to provide a location for rest away from academic worries. Suggestions from other OxSGA members varied, from adding more pool tables inside residence halls to repurposing Phi Gamma Hall, Emory’s oldest academic building, into a social space during the nighttime.
“Students can always share their own ideas,” Bajraktarevic said, adding that an OxSGA Town Hall meeting will be held on Oct. 2 from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. in the Greer Forum for students to give their input.
“We would essentially be discussing, ‘What do you guys think of this idea? What do you guys want?’” Bajraktarevic said.
Though OxSGA is considering ideas for an alternate space, saying goodbye to the tavern won’t be easy for much of the student body.
“It’s sad to see the tavern go, especially because it was home to so much history and so many events that we never got to experience,” Persons said.
