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Revision To Rumors To Reality To Re-Opening
By Hailey Macias 
“Firstly, there was no written contract,” TyAnn said.
“I stand by what was agreed, written down or not.” Robyn said.
“I have been made aware of rumors about Desserts by Robyn closing… Until we reach a mutual understanding and have a signed agreement Desserts by Robyn will not be open on Finlandia’s campus.”
On September 13th, Finlandia faculty and staff were sent an e-mail stating that due to rumors—that grew from a disagreement between TyAnn and Robyn—about Desserts by Robyn being shut down, Desserts by Robyn was being shut down. Friday, September 14th, the Nikander Nook was shut down until an agreement could be reached between the two. And on September 15th, the Nikander Nook was re-opened, along with another e-mail. For those unaware of these “rumors,” this message may have seemed to come out of nowhere and there might still be some confusion.
For many semesters a wonky empty space had stationed itself in Nikander. Students and faculty had thought that that would be the perfect place for a small coffee shop. Over the summer of 2011, Kelley Martin had contacted Robyn to serve that purpose. After getting it approved by the board, Kelly and Robyn had made an oral agreement signed a document stating so. The only agreement was that Robyn follows her food license–which she has been since opening. November 2011, Desserts by Robyn had arrived to provide nutritious food, baked goods, and coffee varieties. The students requested more. After taking surveys and listening to students suggestions, Robyn had a bigger fridge installed to replace the mini-fridge and a small toaster oven. Robyn says that every installment has been at her own expense to better her service for the students.
Entering back in the present, TyAnn’s e-mail had addressed that she would like Robyn’s food to complement the offerings of Finlandia Hall Cafe which implied that being the problem.
“It is still my hope that we can reach a mutually beneficial agreement on the ways in which Desserts by Robyn can provide nutritious foods and beverages which complement the offerings of the Finlandia Hall Café.”
So why were there revisions to begin with?
“Revising and renewing a contract yearly is just in good practice,” says TyAnn.
In the draft up for revision, there were three additional points made.
“The one that had caused the biggest consternation was that there was to be no hot food served between 11a.m.-1p.m.,” TyAnn said. Robyn refused to sign this new contract as nothing was wrong with the established agreement between Ms. Martin and Ms. Phelps. A hasty agreement had been reached and the Nikander Nook was re-opened the following Monday morning.
Nothing was really wrong with the agreement between Ms. Martin and Ms. Phelps. No additional points were made to the renewed contract. If you missed school on the 14th without checking your e-mail and returned Monday for your morning coffee, it’s as if nothing even happened.
I, as do many other students, feel that this whole situation was handled very poorly. Did we all really need to know about this through the email sent by TyAnn? Seemed to us to be a just a petty attempt at deflecting blame. This is just another reason why Finlandia is being call “TyAnndia” by much of the student body. No wonder why student enrollment has been suffering at TyAnndia!