Quaker Shaker forced to leave campus

For the last 20 years, caffeine and food have been available just steps off the Walk -- making the Quaker Shaker almost an University landmark. But after August 31, the popular campus food truck presently located on 37th and Locust Walk will be forced to battle for customers on the street, or close its business altogether. Owners Tim Dever and Mark Gosik are not leaving quietly. University officials said the move is necessary due to construction and the future implementation of a master plan to reorganize venders in the campus area. Gosik believes the sudden change is unnecessary and will disturb many students and faculty. "I have always felt as if the Quaker Shaker was an ambassador for Penn," Gosik said. "We don't deserve to be forced out after serving the University for so long." The owners of the food truck said they received a letter on July 15 that terminated their monthly lease. Gosik said the letter was the first information the Quaker Shaker received about moving. Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman said the lease termination information was communicated to the Quaker Shaker "many months ago." "I'm not sure why this came as a surprise to the vendor," Scheman said. "The University had planned to reclaim this space as a staging area for adjacent construction." The current construction in the area of the food truck is the Women's Center on 3643 Locust Walk. Scheman said the food truck would be included in a future plan for vendors in the campus area. Gosik said the University is not considering how the termination will affect the Quaker Shaker. "I have three kids to take care of and many other families will also be affected," Gosik explained. "We will be out of business for 3 months before the new vendor plan is completed." The owners of the Quaker Shaker said they do not plan on competing with street vendors, especially since they were stationed on campus since 1976. Gosik said many students, faculty and workers will miss the food truck's presence on campus greatly. "They can't take away the Quaker Shaker," said 1996 College graduate Paul Pimentel. "The people in Annenberg won't have anything to eat!" Posted on the truck are several signs announcing the departure, as well as a petition that already has a long list of signatures. Gosik said he believes that once the full student body and professors return to campus, they administration will receive complaints about the move. Quaker Shaker employees are handing out Scheman's office number and will begin to distribute form letters within the week. "On September 1 the Wharton professors that we serve donuts and coffee to every day are going to be looking for us," Gosik said. "We also donate a significant amount of food and money to the University in various functions." The Quaker Shaker regularly caters for the Penn Crew Team, Dynamics and various Wharton School functions. Gosik believes that an additional reason for the truck's closure is the pretzel stand across the street from them. He claims the stand was violating health regulations and was previously forced to close by the University. "The pretzel stand owned by former State senator Milton Street was really shaky," Gosik said. "They had several propane tanks and had no running water for example." Gosik said Street and his brother, John Street, who is a city councilman, influenced the University to ban the Quaker Shaker, which is the only other vendor on campus. "The University decided to essentially shut down a business which employs a few people because they did not want political problems," said 1996 Wharton graduate Eric Sachs, responding to information he received from Gosik. However, Scheman denies the lease termination was related to the pretzel vendor operated by Street. "The Quaker Shaker is going to fight this closure," Gosik said. "We belong on Penn's campus."