A Pura Vida coffee shop will move into Mary Graydon Center, AU President Benjamin Ladner announced last Wednesday, because he said the company's socially responsible fair trade product suits AU's values.
The choice represents "American University's institutional values and another opportunity to translate those values into a demonstrated public responsibility," Ladner said in a campus-wide e-mail. "In my view, that responsibility presently aligns more closely with the business and social practices of Pura Vida."
Ladner said he appreciated what he called the "high-level dialogue" between students, administrators and representatives from Pura Vida and Starbucks coffee companies over which business the university would choose to occupy the storefront vacated by Auntie Anne's pretzel shop in Mary Graydon.
He also said that it was fortunate that, regardless of which company was chosen, the AU community would always have the option of choosing to buy either brand on campus or in nearby shops.
"We're excited to see that Ben Ladner is following through on his commitment to social responsibility," said Rachel Wood, a student in the School of International Service and spokesperson for the Office of Community Action and Social Justice and the Movement for Global Justice.
Wood praised the administration for keeping lines of communication open with students.
Members of the Movement had been worried that the school was going to go in the other direction for a while, but in the end they felt that their arguments had convinced the administration to choose Pura Vida, she said.
Andrew Mullin, a member of the General Assembly, the Student Government's legislative branch, had supported Starbucks along with a majority of the GA.
"I think that he looked at all of the evidence and decided to listen to the angry mob outside of his office," he said of Ladner's decision.
Mullin said he is sure Pura Vida will do fine, but believes that Starbucks would have been the right choice because it would have made more of a social impact than Pura Vida.
"Really, most students haven't been pushing for either one," Mullin said. "I have looked at the evidence and I know Starbucks is a better choice for the school, but when it comes down to it, a cup of coffee is a cup of coffee."
He criticized those pushing for Pura Vida, saying that they have successfully made sure Starbucks will have their pilot program somewhere else, instead of working with the AU student body to prove whether college students want fair trade coffee.
Wood said students who supported Starbucks failed to mobilize in the same way that students for fair trade coffee did.
"If they really care about the issue, they can find ways to introduce dialogue," she said.
Mullin said that if members of the Movement for Global Justice really cared about the issue, they would have looked at what the Starbucks-proposed pilot program entailed, and realized that, unlike Pura Vida, Starbucks has the ability to make change on a national level.
Student reaction was mixed, but most seemed relieved that the university had finally reached a decision.
"I'd rather there were something other than a coffee place," said Sophie Jackson, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. "We just have too many of those on campus."
Jackson said she felt the coffee shop debate was a waste of time, and the university could have been focusing on something of greater importance.
"I'm glad it's over, because now we can move on to something more useful," she said.
