Renew the Lease of the "Hello My Friend Café"

To Whom It May Concern:

I understand that the University of Alberta has declined to renew the lease of the Hello My Friend Café located in the Faculty of Law. I understand that the space occupied by the café is to be "re-purposed". I tell you that there is no purpose more important to our law school than that which is currently served by our café.

The Hello My Friend Café is a hallowed place. Since opening in 2007, it has become the centre of our community. It has cultivated and sustained a unique and irreplaceable atmosphere of collegiality, acceptance, generosity, and sincerity.

The Hello My Friend Café is devoted to our law school. It is a place where law students, professors, staff, lawyers and even judges not only stand in line together, but sit down together. The proprietor of this café is a staple of our law school's spirit, and has fostered an atmosphere where anyone, from a first year law student to a senior judge, is put at ease.

I tell you that there is no equal or better purpose for this space than to continue to serve and better our community as the Hello My Friend Café.

I petition you to renew the lease of an independent business that has transcended its existence as a café and has become the very cornerstone of the spirit of the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta.

Thank you.