Coke Campaign at Grinell College, Iowa



	The students at Grinnell College have taken a unique approach to targeting Coca-Cola at their school. Grinnell College has an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola, which lasts until 2008. This contract posed a major problem for the student groups that were calling for a Coke boycott. Three student groups, the Latin American Solidarity Group, the Students Against Sweatshops, and the Student Organization of Latinos and Latinas (SOL), combined forces to form an anti-Coke coalition. The coalition began with self-education. After learning about many of the human rights abuses committed against union workers in Coca-Cola bottling plants and the corporation's lack of effort to prevent or repair these incidents, the coalition moved on to campus education. The anti-Coke campaign kicked off with an informative and compassionate letter to the editor in the school newspaper. After the letter was published, the coalition had little trouble gathering signatures on its petition calling for a boycott on all coke products. Within two days, over a third of students at Grinnell College had agreed to boycott coke. The coalition also invited Luis Cardona, a former unionist at a Coca-Cola factory in Colombia to speak to the student body. The event was moving, and very well attended. Once this student support was clear, the anti-Coke coalition had to decide how it would convince the administration to stop buying Coke products. The coalition utilized an official boycott policy of the college to call for a campus-wide boycott of Coca-Cola. The policy, which was written during the anti-apartheid effort, states that if twenty percent or more of the student body agrees to boycott a product, the College will label that product and provide alternatives, when able. After meeting with the head of Dining Services, the coalition learned that it needed to pass a student initiative in order to activate this boycott policy. The students wrote and submitted an initiative calling for a boycott on Coca-Cola and requesting that alternatives be supplied on campus. The coalition flyered the campus and continued to publish articles and letters to the editor in the school newspaper in order to maintain student support for the issue. On November 19, the student initiative passed, creating an official Grinnell College boycott on all Coca-Cola products. Unfortunately, the nature of the Coke contract at Grinnell does not allow the college to provide alternatives on campus. For now, the only beverages on campus remain to be supplied by Coke. However, next to each of these products there is now a sign reading, "The Grinnell College student body has voted to boycott Coca-Cola products. This is a Coca-Cola product." Also, the college has agreed to decrease the purchase of Coke products in proportion to decrease in their consumption by the students. Therefore, the coalition is still working to encourage individuals at Grinnell College to make the personal decision not to buy Coke. Also, the coalition is asking the administration to agree that before they sign another contract with Coca-Cola, they will consult student opinion.

The students at Grinnell College have taken a unique approach to targeting Coca-Cola at their school. Grinnell College has an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola, which lasts until 2008. This contract posed a major problem for the student groups that were calling for a Coke boycott. Three student groups, the Latin American Solidarity Group, the Students Against Sweatshops, and the Student Organization of Latinos and Latinas (SOL), combined forces to form an anti-Coke coalition. The coalition began with self-education. After learning about many of the human rights abuses committed against union workers in Coca-Cola bottling plants and the corporation's lack of effort to prevent or repair these incidents, the coalition moved on to campus education.

The anti-Coke campaign kicked off with an informative and compassionate letter to the editor in the school newspaper. After the letter was published, the coalition had little trouble gathering signatures on its petition calling for a boycott on all coke products. Within two days, over a third of students at Grinnell College had agreed to boycott coke. The coalition also invited Luis Cardona, a former unionist at a Coca-Cola factory in Colombia to speak to the student body. The event was moving, and very well attended. Once this student support was clear, the anti-Coke coalition had to decide how it would convince the administration to stop buying Coke products.

The coalition utilized an official boycott policy of the college to call for a campus-wide boycott of Coca-Cola. The policy, which was written during the anti-apartheid effort, states that if twenty percent or more of the student body agrees to boycott a product, the College will label that product and provide alternatives, when able. After meeting with the head of Dining Services, the coalition learned that it needed to pass a student initiative in order to activate this boycott policy. The students wrote and submitted an initiative calling for a boycott on Coca-Cola and requesting that alternatives be supplied on campus. The coalition flyered the campus and continued to publish articles and letters to the editor in the school newspaper in order to maintain student support for the issue. On November 19, the student initiative passed, creating an official Grinnell College boycott on all Coca-Cola products.

Unfortunately, the nature of the Coke contract at Grinnell does not allow the college to provide alternatives on campus. For now, the only beverages on campus remain to be supplied by Coke. However, next to each of these products there is now a sign reading, "The Grinnell College student body has voted to boycott Coca-Cola products. This is a Coca-Cola product." Also, the college has agreed to decrease the purchase of Coke products in proportion to decrease in their consumption by the students. Therefore, the coalition is still working to encourage individuals at Grinnell College to make the personal decision not to buy Coke. Also, the coalition is asking the administration to agree that before they sign another contract with Coca-Cola, they will consult student opinion.