Two-liter bottles of Faygo and Vernors were among a clutter of paper cups on a foldout table in front of the rock on Farm Lane on Monday afternoon.
"Get a drink of justice," a member of Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, called out to passing students.
The group organized a Michigan pop taste fest to promote the use of local beverages and play down the use of Coca-Cola Co. products.
English senior and SEJ member Rachel Fealk said the group believes managers at the Coca-Cola bottling facilities in Colombia hired paramilitary groups to kill eight union leaders and harass other employees and their families. Coca-Cola also has been responsible for ruining water reserves in India, she said.
"We're also trying to promote local pop companies," she said. "They keep saying we're a land-grant institution, but we're not doing what we could. Our economy obviously needs it."
Coca-Cola spokesperson Kerry Kerr said the company denies using unfair labor practices.
"We're very concerned about this issue," Kerr said. "We are providing (universities) with the facts. These are false allegations about our business."
She added that the company is not against unions.
The University of Michigan stopped using Coca-Cola products in their vending machines Jan. 1 after student groups joined forces to combat the university's use of the company's products.
U-M officials investigated the company's business practices — including meeting with Coca-Cola officials and collecting documents — and created a plan for the company to work with an independent auditor, according to the U-M News Service. When the company failed to meet the university's deadlines, U-M decided to stop buying Coca-Cola products.
Kerr said the company had agreed to a third-party assessment of Colombia, but added that it's a long process and the design for developments with the assessment will be ready by the end of the first quarter of this year.
"Right now, as far as I'm aware, the vending machines are still there, but there's no Coke," said Nafisah Ula, a sociology sophomore at U-M. "They're just empty."
MSU still offers Coca-Cola products on campus.
Mike Rice, MSU's director of auxiliary services, said a student visited his office in December and inquired about the Coca-Cola issue. He said the university is obtaining information before making any decisions on the matter.
Human biology junior Preeti Lingnurkar stopped at the taste fest Monday afternoon to take a swig of one of the Faygo flavors.
"I would love (if the university switched to using Faygo)," she said. "It would be a good change. There are more varieties of Faygo, too."
English and social relations junior Tommy Simon, who also is an SEJ member, said speakers from the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Colombia will be visiting campus in late February.
He said the decision at U-M is something that will help spur a change on MSU's campus.
"It's a major concern that we stay on par with other universities," he said. "No one has told us that they're flat out against the idea. They're listening."
