Bring Back the Old Rathskeller
By Mary Grace Hathway
Image Courtesy of The Catholic University of America, Cardinal Yearbook, 1974
If you’ve ever walked down the stairwell to Murphy’s, you may have noticed the nostalgic photo hanging on the wall. In the gray picture, Catholic University students gather around a wooden bar to order a beer. Each time I pass the photo, I smile, thinking of the conversations that once took place in the Old Rathskeller, Catholic University’s underground student bar. As my father, John Hathway, tells my brothers and me, it was not uncommon to find yourself in the bustling Rat after exams, on a weekend night, or, if you enjoyed the risk, in between classes. But after the new drinking age of 1984, the season for lively on-campus bars faded, and “in the early 2000s, the Rat poured its last beer.”
Now, replacing the Old Rat, students looking for a social night might hop in a 20-dollar Uber, placing them out on the streets of downtown D.C., where they order vodka Red Bulls from sketchy establishments next to students from American, Georgetown, or self-proclaimed students who really look more like 65-year-old unemployed rogues. The Rathskeller’s closing impacted our campus more than we realize.
Consider the name “The Nest” at Catholic U: a tight-knit organization meant to foster community. When the Rathskeller died, the Nest lost its weekend night community. Instead of students celebrating together in the basement of O’Connell after a victorious basketball game, many now rush into the city, where they encounter only a fraction of the student body. After all, D.C. offers countless bars to choose from. Cardinals are dropping their “sticks” everywhere, which makes for a shoddy nest. A student on a Friday night will not be having a beer with his entire LC, a teacher, or the pretty girl he passed last week. That crowded group over the wooden bar in the gray photo seems to separate some.
Then there’s the cost, safety, and culture. The cost is simple: instead of five bucks for a beer going into CUA’s pocket, your 13 bucks for a vodka Red Bull builds up a sketchy franchise. Safety is another concern. If students were under the influence of the Rat, at least they would only be a walk away from their dorm, not lost in the heart of D.C. Lastly, consider the character that the Old Rathskeller inspired. Young people conform to the environment they are in, and in a bar like Zebbie’s, conforming often leads to regret. In an environment with peers, students behave maturely. Sure, there’s a time for clubs, but it’s not always a time to jump up and down with a fist in the air to TikTok music while holding a 17-dollar drink (does my number keep increasing? I didn’t notice, and neither did you when your bartender overcharged you on the third drink). The Rathskeller encouraged better character because the students of CUA are respectable, and their peers want to impress them.
The Rathskeller is just a segue into a discussion on the drinking age, something experts much smarter than I have toiled over for years. People are not going to downtown D.C. to escape CUA; they’re going to grab a drink underage.
A total reconsideration of the drinking age is far beyond my expertise. I am, however, offering a closer glimpse into that gray photo hanging on the wall and opening up a conversation on what really makes the nest at Catholic U thrive. A beer? I’m not sure that could be problematic. Whatever the case, the Old Rathskeller could bring back some of the spirit Catholic U seems to be lacking. The Old Rathskeller deserves to be reminisced on for it served during an interesting period of American history, where students experienced Friday nights differently than any of their children would. I think the students of Catholic University, and perhaps many other American students, are longing for this more than they know: an environment where one’s own community goes, where maturity and class are expected of oneself, where alcohol serves as a conduit to new friendships and memorable conversations, not fleeting romances. In other words, sure, the drinking age killed the Rathskeller—not our community—but we can see that quite a few communal experiences died with it. Besides all this, how cool would it be to discuss The Cave with your freshman LC professor over a Bud Light?ay
