Coca-Cola controversy

From CarlWiki

The Coca-Cola controversy refers to the period of Winter Term 2004 in which students considered whether to renew the college's contract with Coca-Cola on the basis of alleged human rights violations at their bottling plants in Colombia. It culminated in a 4-hour debate at the last CSA meeting of the term, at which representatives from both Coca-Cola and a spokeperson from KillerCoke.org were present, in addition to over 150 students. At the end of the meeting, the CSA Senate voted 12-8 to cancel the vending machine contract with Coke. During the Winter Break, the vending machines were replaced with Pepsi machines, and Pepsi continues to be Carleton's soft drink supplier up to the present.

Carleton College is almost unique in that the student government negotiates and controls the school's vending contracts rather than the administration. This allowed student activists to be faced only with the task of convincing their peers, rather than requiring them to launch a fight with a possibly recalcitrant administration. The anti-Coke activists were led by Michael Schorsch (2004). The pro-Coke side was not organized per se, though many of the pro-Coke senators spoke very eloquently. This vote was apparently an important matter for Coke, as is shown by the fact that Coke's representatives in this discussion were both VP level within the company, including the head of Coke's Latin American operations. The vote, aside from being written up in The Carletonian, was also mentioned in the Washington Post.

Coca-Cola products are still available at the dining halls, the Snack Bar, and The Bookstore, as these locations are not under the jurisdiction of the CSA.

The 2004 controversy is an echo of a similar one about that took place in 1963. As reported in The Carletonian on October 1, 1963, the CSA granted an exclusive 1-year contract to Coca-Cola in return for an extra 10¢ per case commission. This contract earned the CSA nearly $5,000 over the following year. (Interestingly, the following fall KARL radio signed a $30/week advertising contract with rival bottler 7-Up, as reported in the November 17, 1964 'Tonian.)