With shouts of "Don't let the university support an unethical company," and "Make your voice known," members of Students for Economic Justice, or SEJ, held a protest Wednesday to encourage university officials to stop serving Coca-Cola products.
The protest, held in front of the MSU Auditorium on Tuesday and at the International Center on Wednesday, is part of SEJ's "Killer Coke" campaign to get students involved and informed about Coca-Cola Co. business practices and the much publicized human rights abuse in Colombian bottling plants and other plants overseas.
Adorned in plastic garbage barrels painted to resemble popular Coca-Cola flavors — and labeled "Killer Cherry Coke" and "Killer Diet Coke" among others — handfuls of SEJ members passed out anti-Coke pamphlets to students walking or riding to and from class.
Member Rebecca Sherwood jumped up and down with a trash can wrapped around her midsection.
"We're just trying to gain support from word of mouth and to get students aware of the situation going on right now with the Coca-Cola Co. and the university," Sherwood said.
SEJ members have said in the past they believe managers at the Coca-Cola bottling facilities in Colombia arranged for the killing of eight union leaders, harassed other employees and contaminated water reserves in India.
The Coca-Cola Co. has a Web site that lists facts about its business practices in Colombia.
"Our bottling partners enjoy extensive, normal relations with 12 separate unions in Colombia," the Web site said.
On Jan. 1, the University of Michigan removed Coca-Cola products from its vending machines.
University officials met with Coca-Cola officials and collected documents before establishing an independent review board. The university stopped purchasing from the company after it missed U-M's deadlines.
MSU still provides Coca-Cola products on campus.
SEJ members at MSU look to follow U-M's lead.
"The U-M outcome was a huge momentum builder nationally," said Tommy Simon, SEJ member and social relations junior. "Two months ago nobody was really talking about this."
Chuck Gagliano, MSU's assistant vice president for Housing and Food Services, said the university will continue to honor its contract with Coca-Cola.
"We have a contract with Coke to supply fountain drinks," Gagliano said. "There's no decrease in customer satisfaction or consumption. We have a bunch of allegations going around, and nobody's bringing any facts to light."
SEJ members also had spread out, on a fold-out table, a set of dorm preference cards, available for students to write in if they do not approve of Coke being provided in dorm cafeterias.
After receiving a pamphlet on the way to class, general business administration and pre-law freshman Walter Brown won't be deterred from changing his Coca-Cola allegiances.
"I love Coke products," Brown said. "I'm still going to the Qdoba on Friday night and ordering a Coke.
"On or off campus, I don't think this (display) makes any difference."
Gagliano has been in touch with students and Coca-Cola and believes the situation between the company, the university and the students needs to be more clear.
"The students have their position, and the university has theirs," Gagliano said. "All I can do is listen to both sides and go from there."
Simon sees the fight to pressure university administrators to cancel their Coke ties as a step-by-step process, adding that the whole national process could take two to three semesters to win.
"Now we're at the point where people are talking about the issue," Simon said.
"We want to be that constant pressure."
