Lindsay France/University Photography

Students enjoy a Thursday afternoon Coffee Hour event in the Willard Straight Browsing Library.

Each Thursday at 4:30 p.m., free coffee, tea and hot chocolate are available in the Browsing Library at Willard Straight Hall. The refreshments are free, and some 70 people usually stop by. But this is more than just free coffee.

It is Coffee Hour, a new student organization designed to promote new friendships and to connect social networks on campus.

"The simple idea of Coffee Hour is meeting people over a cup of free coffee or tea and being introduced to friends of friends," said David Ge '12, Sloan MHA '13, the founder and president of Coffee Hour. "It's like a real-world Facebook."

Ge, a psychology major in the College of Arts and Sciences who is also in the accelerated bachelor's/master's Sloan Program in Health Administration in the College of Human Ecology, was inspired to launch the organization after he felt that the North Campus experience, special-interest organizations and a fraternity he joined did not provide the kind of student community he was looking for. To build social niches on campus, he aimed to create a space that is relaxed, open and, even more importantly, optimal for meeting as many new people as possible in hopes of clicking with a lifelong friend, he said.

Lindsay France/University Photography

The Coffee Hour hosts weekly events to give students an opportunity to foster social connections.

"How do you connect with someone?" asked Ge. "At Coffee Hour you can go up to anyone and hear what they're all about. I don't see any other social outlet that can achieve casual conversation between complete strangers."

Attendees are a mix of regulars and first timers, a mix of undergraduates and graduate students from across campus. Students are free to either stop by for a quick caffeine fix and some impromptu conversation or stay for the entire hour.

The coffee at each meeting is donated by the local coffee merchants Gimme! Coffee and Ithaca Coffee Co., and the Willard Straight Hall Student Union Board funds all other expenses. Each Coffee Hour has a conversation theme, but Ge noted that while the themes are rarely followed in practice, they serve to provide a structure for those who might be new to Coffee Hour. And new guests, he stressed, are Coffee Hour's top priority.

"Coffee Hour is for that person who doesn't have a strong social circle yet and needs to be reached out to," said Ge. "It doesn't happen from just me talking to my social circle. It happens from social circles talking to other social circles that can then reach the person."

"There has been a big push from the administration to provide social programming in a nonalcoholic setting. Coffee Hour provides a new social outlet for students to connect with others who have similar interests," said Karen (Casey) Carr, assistant dean of students and adviser to Cornell Minds Matter. "Research overwhelmingly shows that healthy social relationships are one of the best predictors of happiness. General happiness and well-being support academic success."

The group only started last semester, but Coffee Hour has already garnered recognition on campus. Last semester the group received the Student Assembly's Organizational Spotlight Award for fostering collaboration between communities. This semester the Coffee Hour was nominated for the Student Organizations Awards and Recognition Program Showcase Award.

Ge aspires for Coffee Hour to live on long after he graduates next year. "I do hope to make Coffee Hour a Cornell tradition before I leave here," he said.

Michelle Spektor '12 is an intern for the Cornell Chronicle.