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BY MARTHA MARRAZZA

In print | November 9, 2006

The Kick Coke campaign has convinced the administration to cut Swarthmore’s contract with Coca-Cola completely. Although the administration moved to eliminate Coke products from Essie Mae’s and the coffee bars last spring, Swarthmore’s decision to terminate its still extant contract with Coke will mean the removal of all Coca-Cola products from Sharples and the remainder of campus. The change in product offerings is set to occur over winter break.

The decision comes in light of a letter correspondence between the administration and the Coca-Cola Company. In response to an ultimatum issued by Swarthmore administrators and students, Coke sent a letter to the administration on Nov. 1 outlining actions the company is taking to become more ethically responsible. However, students from Kick Coke met with President Al Bloom, Vice President Maurice Eldridge and Associate Vice President for Facilities Stu Hain yesterday, resulting in a decision not to renew the college’s contract with Coke.

Sarah Roberts ‘08 said Swarthmore’s decision to cut its contract with Coke is a big victory for the Kick Coke campaign, which has been active at Swarthmore for almost two years. “We won,” she said. “We just had a conversation with the administration about what was the most effective way to use our influence. We told them that we should cut the contract with Coke, but we are going to continue to dialogue with Coke and tell them what it will take for Swarthmore to reinstate their contract.”

Leading up to the meeting, students in Kick Coke were pushing to cut Swarthmore’s contract with Coke while some administrators were still debating the most effective way to send the company a message.

Student members of Kick Coke said Coke’s letter did not meet their expectations. “We got back a letter from Coke on Nov. 1,” Roberts said. “Basically, Coke told us the exact same thing as they had last time, which wasn’t saying much at all. They’ve been saying it for a year now. I do think it would have been a real problem for us to make a threat [to kick Coke] and then not go through with it.”

Initially, Eldridge thought that severing ties with the company might compromise Swarthmore’s bargaining power with Coke. “In the letter, Coke offered, as they have done before, without conditions this time, to have someone come and talk on campus to speak to the group about Coke and have a real dialogue. I think if you ever have a chance to have dialogue with the people you are trying to influence, you ought to take it,” Eldridge said. “One thing that worries me is that if we just go ahead and say we’re out of here, we may never have another moment to influence Coke. If the objective is to get Coke to become a leader in a socially responsible way to the corporate world, we probably ought to not give up influence.”

Eldridge said administrators did eventually side with students after yesterday’s meeting. “We did agree with the students today that we might be able to continue to influence Coke even as we cut the contract,” he said. “We will work together with the [Kick Coke] campaign on that.”

Roberts said she wasn’t sure how Kick Coke members were able to persuade the administration to sever the college’s contract with the company in yesterday’s meeting, but they did. “Some administrators were worried that this would be our last chance at having leverage over Coke, but we were able to explain that being a potential buyer gives us a lot of leverage,” Roberts said. “Since Coke will want us to buy from them in future, we weren’t cutting off all avenues. I think the administration really likes dialogue, so framing it in those terms made sense to them.”

Kick Coke members are pleased at achieving their goal of getting Coke off campus by winter break. “Our contract is set to expire at end of 2007, so we felt that this issue was urgent,” Ruth Schultz ’09 said.

The changeover from Coke products to those of another soft drink provider will occur over winter break, Roberts said. “Coke won’t be gone from Sharples until over winter break,” she said. “We’ll have to change all the machinery, and we will be switching to Pepsi, as far as I know.”

Kick Coke members are meeting soon to draft a list of concerns that Coke will have to address individually before Swarthmore considers purchasing from the company again, Roberts said. “Hopefully we can affect some positive change past just cutting our contract,” she said.

Many students were very positive about this final resolution to the Coke-kicking process. Melanie Spaulding ‘09 applauded the Kick Coke group for its tenacity. "I don’t drink soda, but I think it’s great that Kick Coke can make a difference and that the administration responded to it in such a positive fashion."

Although Jeremy Freeman ‘08 said that he was impressed by this conclusion to Kick Coke’s continued efforts, he was skeptical of what it might ultimately achieve. “I do admit that I like Coke better than Pepsi, although I think it’s impressive that Kick Coke has achieved this,” he said. “But I’m also pessimistic as to how they’re going to get this massive corporation to restructure.”

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