A menu board sits outside an open, wooden door on the corner of Green and Goodwin Avenue, inviting students and community members to stop in on weekdays for a cup of coffee at The Etc. Coffeehouse. Customers might follow up their drink with a hard shell taco, granola bar or another option on the menu for the night. They can pay as much or as little as they want for food and self-serve coffee, as the café is donation-based.

The stone building across the street from the Mechanical Engineering building is the Wesley Foundation, which hosts The Etc. Coffeehouse. Because the business is based on donations, it runs from the help of its staff of volunteers.

The café, which operates from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, hosts a variety of coffee nights throughout the school week. These include Rainbow Coffeehouse (when the LGBT Office hosts events from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays) and International Coffeehouse (which is designed to help international students practice speaking English and meet other American students from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Fridays).

Jarod Spohrer, a volunteer coordinator at The Etc. Coffeehouse, remembers the first time he walked into the café — it was a Friday during International Coffeehouse. That night, he met a lot of people who became his friends, which encouraged him to return the following week.

“This place has a ‘home away from home’ feeling,” Spohrer said. “It is very different from Starbucks.”

Victoria Han, junior in Engineering, started visiting The Etc. Coffeehouse a month ago and agrees with Spohrer’s evaluation of the café’s atmosphere.

“It was the people that made me want to come back — they are really open and welcoming,” Han said. “I don’t really eat or drink anything here.”

Molly Yue, master’s student in Education, met Spohrer two years ago while practicing her English at International Coffeehouse. Since then, she attends regularly and has considered volunteering.

The members of Alpha Phi Omega are among the volunteers who help run the coffeehouse on a regular basis. Spohrer said that he is constantly on the lookout for people interested in working behind the counter. Any student who enters The Etc. can sign up on the spot for morning or afternoon shifts.

While Spohrer does not know why the coffeehouse was named Etc, he said he has an idea.

“There are so many groups that meet here and there are so many things you can do … et cetera,” Spohrer said. “You get inexpensive, good quality coffee at a unique quaint café.”

Lyanne can be reached at [email protected].