Earlier this year Cornell University became the first university to commit to ending its relationship with Starbucks. They did so under pressure from students, who opposed giving business to a company that shamelessly busts its growing union movement. Now it seems that anti-Starbucks energy is transferring to other campuses―at Georgetown University this month, a coalition of students calling itself Students Against Starbucks is building momentum to replace the campus Starbucks with another coffee brand.
According to The Hoya, Georgetown's campus paper, Students Against Starbucks have been circulating a petition calling for:
[...]the university’s administration to end Aramark’s licensing agreement with Starbucks and invite a new coffee brand to replace Starbucks in the Leavey Center. In this transition process, we demand no changes occur in the payment, staffing, benefits, or number of hours for the dining services employees working at the above-mentioned café. Additionally, we call for Georgetown to completely divest from Starbucks.
The petition currently has over 500 signatories and is supported a number of campus groups such as Georgetown Coalition for Workers’ Rights, the Georgetown University College Democrats and the campus's chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America. It's also being done in consultation with Starbucks Workers United.
Georgetown has, to this point, remained quiet about the petition circulating. The Hoya gives their only statement I can find (via a university spokesperson) as:
Georgetown does not have a contract with Starbucks. Aramark, the university’s primary food service provider, manages most of the retail and residential dining operations on campus. Aramark has a license agreement with Starbucks, and union-represented Aramark dining employees staff the Leavey Center Starbucks location
Obviously, not much of an acknowledgement of the budding movement. Still, Georgetown students remain optimistic that they'll be able to take their petition directly to administration in time. The Hoya quotes student Elijah Ward, one of Students Against Starbucks' leading members, as saying “We want to be able to meet with administration and have a response for them to understand that students are mobilized against this, and they want to see a change.”
