Debate over the ownership of a proposed coffee shop in the Mary Graydon Center is rising to the surface faster than it takes a pot to percolate. An unidentified student dropped two banners promoting Pura Vida coffee from the roof of Mary Graydon at 11:10 on Monday morning while many students were switching classes. One banner ripped and collapsed under its own weight, but the remaining one read "Ideas into Action: Living Wages, Organic, Shade-Grown, Nonprofit. Pura Vida - The Guilt-Free Choice." The banner remained suspended for more than an hour.
The banner drop was part of the ongoing discussion between AU social justice groups and AU administration over the upcoming replacement of Auntie Anne's Pretzels with either a Pura Vida coffee shop, a company known for its fair-trade practices, or a Starbucks. The university is searching for a vendor to replace the pretzel shop, which has not been as popular among students as hoped, according to Julie Weber, executive director of AU's Housing and Dining Programs.
Fair-trade companies, like Pura Vida, pay coffee farmers a living wage, a base price that covers the cost of production and ensures that farmers make a profit, at a time when coffee prices are the lowest they have been in years, said Casey McNeill, co-facilitator of Community Action and Social Justice, a campus group that favors Pura Vida. Most coffee companies sell the coffee at prices that are lower than the cost of growing and harvesting it, she said.
Starbucks, however, is a free-trade company, which means that the market sets the price of its coffee, affecting the wages received by coffee farmers and growers. Starbucks has recently started a "social responsibility" campaign and now offers Fair Trade Certified coffee in 23 countries, according to its Web site. According to the company's annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report, fair-trade coffee made up 1.6 percent of Starbucks' total coffee purchases in 2004.
Students and administration have been debating which company will replace Auntie Anne's since last fall, said Brian Kruglak, a member of CASJ and the Movement for Global Justice at AU, another social justice campus group.
The social justice groups hope to meet with administrators and officials from the coffee companies to discuss the issue. They are currently seeking the support of deans, campus groups, prominent professors and members of student government as they educate the community about the importance of fair-trade practices. Plans are underway to meet with Starbucks sometime in April, the groups said, but a definite date has not been set.
Travis McArthur, another member of the Movement for Global Justice, said that his organization is working with CASJ and the Fair Trade Student Association to ensure that a fair-trade company is installed at AU. The Movement for Global Justice collected 1,000 signatures during a petition campaign promoting Pura Vida last October, McArthur said.
This February, members of all three groups collected more than 600 signed letters asking the university to consider installing Pura Vida, McArthur said. He and Kruglak said the students presented the administration with the petitions and the letters, but received no official response.
No businesses have made any offers to the university yet, Weber said.
AU would make money off the business by charging rent, by collecting a commission agreed upon during the negotiation process, or by a combination of the two options, according to Weber.
Kruglak and McArthur said they did not drop the banner, but they like the idea because it gets the attention of students and administrators.
"This shows that students will continue to fight for Pura Vida, and will not rest until it is in MGC," Kruglak said after seeing the banner drop. "Fair-trade coffee is about human rights."
Kruglak commended AU for adhering to its philosophy of social consciousness in the past when the university added Bon Appetit, a "socially responsible" company, to run the university's main cafeteria, the Terrace Dining Room, four years ago. He also said social responsibility has prompted the college store to sell only sweatshop-free apparel. However, Kruglak said the university is straying from its mission statement and basic foundations, which emphasize a commitment to public service, social justice and equity.
"If AU prides itself on being a socially responsible university, it's moving away from that idea, and the excuse is it's making the university better," Kruglak said.
Weber said that students who signed the petitions and letters make up only one-fifteenth of the university's population and do not indicate that a majority of students prefer Pura Vida to Starbucks.
During the 2003-04 academic year, student surveys and special focus groups indicated that students wanted either a drugstore or a coffee shop on campus, she said. Although the drugstore was popular, Weber said that the idea was rejected because the university does not have the base population needed to sustain a drugstore year-round, and neither CVS nor Rite Aid wanted to set up shop in MGC.
The other top choice was setting up a coffee shop, Weber said. "Our focus groups overwhelmingly showed that most students want a Starbucks on campus," she said. "We're a large and diverse population - I don't think there's anything that everyone agrees on."
Students from the social justice groups on campus said it is important to recognize that the word "Starbucks" has become a generic term for coffee shops for many people. People who said they wanted a Starbucks may have meant they simply wanted a place to get coffee, not specifically from the ubiquitous retail chain, they said.
But some students say they want Starbucks, not just any coffee.
"If they have a Pura Vida, I will still walk to Starbucks instead," said Christina Capasso, a senior in the School of Communication. She said she knows the Starbucks brand indicates "consistent quality."
"I know what I'm getting every time, it's never bad."
Richard Ross, a freshman in the School of International Service, said he likes Starbucks for the atmosphere.
"I appreciate Starbucks more for its environment than the actual product" he said.
He likes "the emphasis the chain puts on being productive while being there. I always get my work done because I am surrounded by other people getting theirs done."
Weber said there are no major differences between the variety of coffee the two companies could offer, and the administration is not leaning one way or another. "We're just exploring our options at this point," she said.
Both brands are currently offered on campus. MegaBytes Caf? serves Starbucks coffee, while Pura Vida is affiliated with Bon Appetit and is offered daily in TDR.
This week, students from CASJ, the Movement for Global Justice and the Fair Trade Student Association will hold a leaflet campaign, which includes handing out sheets of paper explaining the importance of fair-trade coffee. The campaign will take place on the main Quad for the rest of this week.
