Iowa State President Martin Jischke defended the athletic department’s new Cydlines program at a brown bag lunch meeting Friday afternoon.

Cydlines allows for the sale of alcohol by Ames’ Wallaby’s restaurant in a fenced-off area outside Cyclone Stadium before football games.

“There has been a pregame celebration before basketball games in the Scheman Building and I have never had a complaint about that,” Jischke said. “We have sanctioned people selling beer. It’s a private restaurant that’s selling alcohol.”

But several people said they feel the perception is that ISU condones drinking alcohol.

“It’s not sufficient to say someone else is running this,” said Steve Aigner, coordinator of the ISU Social Work Program.

Two engineering faculty members said Cydlines should be done away with.

Jischke said the agreement allowing Wallaby’s to add beer to its menu was made by the athletic department and external affairs officials.

The issue of students drinking excessively at Cydlines was brought up, but Jischke said, “I don’t see this as a problem because I don’t see students paying two to three dollars for a cup of beer.”

Student retention was another concern at the open luncheon.

“We need to ask what’s the worth of higher education, where does the money come from and where does it go, and what happens to the students?” Jischke said.

Jischke added that student success is a combination of academic achievements and community involvement after graduation. “Everyone in the institution plays a role in that,” he said.

Jischke’s brown bag lunches bring together faculty, staff and students who want to express concerns about ISU.