Dean’s List shakes up owners

Tracy Lucht

A year-long era of student management has come to an end for two Campustown bars.

However, students who have enjoyed unwinding at The Dean’s List and the basement Oscar’s after a long week of classes can rest assured the change in management will not bring drastic changes in atmosphere.

Student owners and acting managers Scott Ramspott and John Laugerman sold their shares of the bars to the remaining partners in a deal finalized Sept. 30, said Laugerman, a senior in management of information systems.

“We all left on good terms,” Ramspott said.

There will be no changes in the way the two establishments are managed, said remaining partners Chuck Hill and J.R. Sheffer, who also own Winston’s Tazzles.

“They owned 10 percent and we just bought that 10 percent back. That’s it,” Sheffer said. “All the same workers are still there. All we’re going to do is get some more night managers.”

While several employees expressed regret that their fellow students will no longer be managers and part owners of the business, they confirmed that everyone working at the bars before the transition were able to keep their jobs.

“That’s what we were scared about, but we had a meeting and things are going as good as they were,” said John Stebral, a senior who has worked as a bartender at The Dean’s List since it opened in August 1995. “I really don’t blame [Ramspott and Laugerman] for getting out. They need to get on with their lives.”

Stebral also said he doesn’t expect any changes in customers dichotomy. “It was fun having your friends as co-workers and managers, but with the same staff, I think we’ll keep the same population,” he said. “We’re still doing the same specials and we’re still at the same hours.”

Their part in the business was always intended as a short-term endeavor, Laugerman and Ramspott said, and both agreed it was the right time to sell out.