The Java Barn is one of the oldest student-run music venues in the country. Throughout the pandemic, the student organization has continued to be successful in adapting its weekly shows to new COVID-19 protocols. Masking, musical guest procedure, and location shifts are all new factors that the staff takes on.  

“Java is the best part of my weekend,” said SLU senior Camden Fort. “I’m so thankful for all of the work that the Java staff has put into keeping these shows running during the pandemic,” he said. “SLU just wouldn’t be the same without Java shows as part of the social life.” 

Java shows are put on by the Java house on Thursdays or Saturdays and host a number of musical events ranging from open mic nights to outsider musical artists. “Music bonds people together in a really neat way and having anyone on campus be a part of that every week is really cool,” said senior Java staff member Liv Erwich. “I think it’s really incredible that we value that so much that we were willing to put in this effort, even though it was really hard to put shows on where we could still have that space for people to have fun and listen to music,” he said. 

In addition to masking protocols, there is also a difference in class years’ experiences with Java shows post-pandemic. “More than half of the campus hasn’t experienced a real Java show. So having to switch it from show to show with little to no communication with half of the school has been challenging, ” said Java staff member, Drew Racioppa. “There’s just been a huge disconnect between us as a house, the people that are coming to the shows, and all the people that have and haven’t been there. We’re all just trying to figure out the best route,” he said. 

The Java staff does not work entirely alone in their efforts to keep the shows running. “I’ve worked with Java each week to evaluate where we were at with the campus operating status,” says Java team advisor and Assistant Dean of Student Life & Director of Student Activities John Robert O’Connor. “Last year we were too hesitant to bring in outside performers, so that was a big adjustment for Java to think more about open mic nights and outside student performers and doing a few events like that,” he said. 

“This year, we were excited that because of vaccinations and testing, we were ready to start bringing outside performers in again,” O’Connor said. “Especially after we had our surge [in cases] and went to a higher alert level at the beginning of the semester, I had to think really creatively about how to do safe Java shows. I would say the credit goes fully to the Java house for being willing to think creatively about how to sort of put on a show that looked really different from a pre-pandemic Java show.” 

The Java shows have been operating consistently with the new normal for about a year now, and many are curious if it will ever return to normal. “I’m hopeful that eventually, we will [return to normal],” O’Connor said. “The reason we’re still mostly doing indoor masking right now, even though we have a fully vaccinated student population, is because our county cases are so high and the CDC guidelines still recommend masking if you’re in an area of high transmission. So, we’ve taken that stance as a university,” he said. “My hope is that for St. Lawrence County, eventually those numbers will go down and we’re able to relax our indoor masking guidelines on campus.”