Cafe Hoop and El Table, two student co-ops on campus, finally opened on Wednesday Nov. 20, after they had been closed since the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

Cafe Hoop’s opening was greeted by a line of more than 30 students formed within 15 minutes of the opening. Cafe Hoop is located on the ground floor of the Lulu Chow Wang Center, next to Punch’s Alley. Hoop is a late-night student-run cafe and co-op that serves creative takes on nachos, quesadillas and cookie butter desserts, as well as traditional drinks and snacks. The co-op also has a secret menu featuring items like Denisse’s Chocolate Pie, a decadent mix of hazelnut and cookie butter toasted on a tortilla with apples, and their King Midas special, a croissant with raspberry preserves and cookie butter. 

Cafe Hoop, which typically opens sometime around the week of Halloween and the first week of November, opened later than usual this year. 

Denise Sarmiento ’25, General Manager of Cafe Hoop explains that the delay was due to numerous mandatory trainings, including discrimination training, food and safety training, and fire safety training, as well as challenges regarding funding. 

“We had a little bit of trouble opening with administration … but we’ve been getting quite a bit of support. It’s nice to feel that support from the student body and to know that we were missed is very special,” said Courtney Robinson ’26, a noopie, or new Cafe Hoop worker.

Sarmiento said that the College told Cafe Hoop that they couldn’t fundraise because the college is government-funded. This prevented Cafe Hoop from accepting donations from students. 

She further explained the difficulties with repaying the loan that Cafe Hoop uses to purchase food and supplies, especially with the policy change.

“Before, we paid back [the loan] as much as we could, and whatever we couldn’t, the college government would forgive. That’s not happening anymore. We are now getting this loan directly from the college, and if we do not pay this back, the co-ops do not exist,” Sarmiento said. The News has reached out to the College Government and College officials for more information on the loan, but they did not immediately respond to The News’ request for

At the opening, many students commented on the ambiance that the cafe brought as a study and hangout space on campus. Cafe Hoop prides itself as a safe place on campus, most recently stating in its opening announcement email on Tuesday Nov. 19 that it “has historically been, and continues to be, a community on campus for students of marginalized backgrounds.”

Robinson said that she was first drawn to Cafe Hoop because of their pizza bagels, but then noticed that the place was “a living history” because of the unique decor style, which includes quotes on the walls from people in the 1990s and posters from each class year, which show the evolution of Wellesley students’ thoughts and sources of joy. 

El Table, facing similar issues to Cafe Hoop, also had to delay their opening. 

Amanda Kauffman, Associate Director of Student Involvement & Leadership, announced in a school-wide email on Nov. 19 that El Table would resume its normal operating times on weekdays from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. 

El Table is located in Founders Basement, where it sells a variety of sandwiches and drinks, including coffee, chai lattes, and the popular El Table club sandwich. 

On the day of the El Table opening, many students voiced their excitement for the co-op’s re-opening. El Table’s mission statement emphasizes their dedication to the QTBIPOC community, existing as “a welcoming space for sibs and the Wellesley community to enjoy.” 

“I think it’s just like such a great community here, it’s like everyone is so vibrant here. The vibes without El Table and Hoop have been a little sad around campus, so to see them open again is really happy,” Alexis Jiang ’25 said.

While enjoying a Rosy Toasty sandwich, a popular secret menu item, and The Chloe, one of El Table’s vegan sandwich options, Gracy Aristil ’25 shared their thoughts on El Table’s atmosphere. 

“I needed this. I feel like this space just feels very … cultural? It doesn’t feel like Wellesley … especially like the workers and the music … It feels different,” Aristil said.

Caroline Goodwin ’26 also said that they were happy to have a “third space open on campus” and looked forward to grabbing a chai on their way to classes. 

“I feel like the value that the co-ops bring to this campus cannot be quantified by how much profit we make. Just existing is resistance against all of these structures of hierarchy that exist, not just at Wellesley, but out in the world,” Sarmiento said.

Christina Ding, Jenna Stephenson, Caroline Tharakan and Samantha Manoloff contributed to reporting. 

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Lyanne Wang, Jessica Chen, and Valida Pau