Coffeehouse at St. Leo University is game changer for many students

Benedict’s Coffee House opens at St. Leo University

Benedicts provides a central meeting place for students to sit down and relax.

ST. LEO, Fla. - Can you imagine a college campus without a coffee house hang out? 

Well, neither could Saint Leo University. 

They opened Benedict's Coffee House at the east end of the Kirk Lawn on campus this week, and the students are loving it.

"When I first came here, I started having little meetings with different groups of students,” said Jeff Senese, President of St. Leo University. “I asked, 'What's missing?’ and they kept talking about a coffee house, so I went to the student government and said what do you think?" 

They loved the idea.

"Coffee! People love coffee," said Student Government President Celine Deon Palmer.

There was no central meeting place on campus before, and no coffeehouse for students to meet and sit down and relax; but with Benedict's open, now there is.

Senese said, "You sit down with a cup of coffee, take 15 minutes out of your life. It's fun and it brings people together."

And that is exactly what SG President Palmer wanted to see, "I hope that this will be a place for students to meet each other," Palmer said.

President Senese calls it a place with long hours open into the night. Benedicts is open from 7 a.m. until midnight daily.

Because the venue is open on campus now, students who live on campus are experiencing a fringe benefit of more time.

"I'll have more time," said sophomore Tamar Mennell, "I won't be rushing." 

Before Benedicts, she had to drive off-campus and back to get coffee.

To learn more about Benedict’s Coffeehouse, visit their website here.