On Your Campus

2007 Campus Campaign Highlights:

Abilene Christian University (Abilene, TX)
Students in a Social Work Practice class at Abilene Christian University decided to lobby to make Fair Trade coffee available across campus as part of their final project. Before the students could even begin lobbying, the Director of Retail and Purchasing agreed to use Fair Trade Certified coffee in all coffee venues on campus. Instead, the students transformed their project into a campaign to educate the student body.

Next, students and administrators at ACU plan on promoting Fair Trade Certified coffee in the town of Abilene, Texas. "I think ACU has a very prominent voice in our community," said Emily Hardegree, administrative assistant in the Office of Social Work. "If ACU pushed it ... I think that would have a big impact."

Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire)
Inspired by his experience with Oxfam America, Dartmouth student and member of the campus group Dartmouth Ends Hunger, Jonathan Merten, led a successful effort to switch the bananas sold at a popular campus eatery to Fair Trade Certified bananas. Fair Trade bananas will cost only 10 cents more than conventional ones. "Giving a dime to ensure livable working conditions isn't that much to ask," says Merten. "The benefits far outweigh the costs." In the future, members of Dartmouth Ends Hunger hope to collaborate with campus dining officials to bring Fair Trade chocolate and sugar to campus and expand offerings of Fair Trade coffee and bananas.

Luther College (Decorah, IA)
After attending a sweat-free conference last spring, several students created the group SEEDS, which stands for "students encouraging economic development through solidarity". The momentum keeps building! In the year since our conception we have hosted our second annual Fair Trade Fest, silent auction and awareness raiser, signed onto the Worker Rights Consortium, and put together an incredible panel of professors from economics, religion, ethics, women's rights, and sociology discuss the complexities of economic development. We continue to make "I Heart Fair Trade" t-shirts, sell World of Good fair trade handicrafts, and enjoy potlucks and movie nights. We currently have over 140 members and supporters and look forward to networking outside of the college as well!

University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
Students of the University of Arizona have been instrumental in promoting Fair Trade on campus. After collecting 900 signatures, they persuaded dining services to provide the complete line of Fair Trade Certified coffees offered by Seattle's Best Coffee. Fair Trade organizers have also undertaken a campaign to raise awareness through a website dedicated to explaining Fair Trade and showing where to find Certified products locally. The website is managed by Students for Fair Trade, whose message is: "When a child gasps for the last breath because his mother couldn't afford to provide a drop of water to sustain him for a day longer, that's when the world starts noticing that there is FAMINE in that place… You can help prevent famine. Promote Fair Trade practices!"

University of California, San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Fair Trade supporters at UCSD recently celebrated a big Fair Trade victory. After giving a thorough presentation on Fair Trade, students succeeded in convincing the University Centers Advisory Board to pass a recommendation that the new cafe being built on campus carry at least one Fair Trade drip coffee, espresso, chocolate, and tea option. Campus officials also agreed to give preference to bids for companies committed to Fair Trade. The students are encouraging local coffee shops to apply for the space, and they are confident the new cafe will offer 100% Fair Trade products. To promote demand and awareness for Fair Trade, the activists created a coffee cart with the help of a local Fair Trade roaster, Cafe Moto, that will sell inexpensive Fair Trade coffee drinks. Fair Trade supporters will educate customers about Fair Trade and circulate a petition to demonstrate strong support on campus. The group also plans to start a steering committee to promote Fair Trade availability, host a film screening of "Black Gold," and continue working with University officials to renegotiate other campus cafe contracts in favor of Fair Trade.

University of Houston (Houston, TX)
Encouraged by a campaign led by University of Houston Students for Fair Trade, the Student Government Association passed a bill establishing one coffee kiosk on campus as a Fair Trade-only kiosk. Student senators and Students for Fair Trade members gave several reasons why the bill was a positive step for the university, including increased coffee revenues, greater consumer choice for students, and increased competition among school coffee vendors. Fair Trade coffee and information about Fair Trade is available at other coffee vendors on campus.

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)
In an effort to support Fair Trade on campus, University Dining Services offers at least one Fair Trade coffee at each campus coffee location and they operate the Left Bank Cafe where exclusively Fair Trade coffee is sold. University Dining Services is also re-opening Bistro West restaurant with a menu featuring 100% sustainable, organic, and locally grown products.

"We're very excited to support this great cause, and we hope you'll share our success with others," says Heather Mentgen of UMN Dining Services.

University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA)
Freshman Malachy McCormick and other University of the Pacific students recently formed Pacific Students for Fair Trade, a student group affiliated with United Students for Fair Trade. McCormick also started a Fair Trade student group at his high school, and has been involved in Fair Trade activism through his church. Pacific Students for Fair Trade plan on working to raise awareness about Fair Trade on campus and in the local community.

University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
After a pilot project last spring, UW officials have approved the sale of Fair Trade Certified espresso, roasted by Tully's Coffee, in all UW dorms. The new roast of Tully's brand beans was specially designed for UW. While vendors across campus have long included Fair Trade Certified drip coffee, this development marks the first time fair trade espresso will be available at the major coffee vending locations. "In terms of pure volume at the University there's a lot more espresso sold, so as far as impact goes, this is huge," said FTCC member Angela Thurmond. "If you force [students] to drink fair trade and they leave the campus community, they'll probably just switch back," Thurmond said. "It's more important to focus on educational aspects. Then when they leave the campus they'll continue to drink Fair Trade. I think that's the greater goal."

Villanova University (Villanova, PA)
Working with Catholic Relief Services, students conducted a blind taste test comparing conventional chocolate with Divine Fair Trade chocolate. The majority of students preferred the Fair Trade chocolate! Students also completed a survey that tested their knowledge of Fair Trade practices.

2006 Campus Campaign Highlights:

Lauren Cohen, co-president of Students Making Trade Fair, takes a picture of a student posing as "bucket boy"- one of many activities at the Fair Trade Fair

University of Florida (Gainsville, FL)
Students Making Trade Fair held a Fair Trade fair featuring a giant coffee mug, Fair Trade Certified food and information, magic shows and entertainment. The organization gathered at least 200 signatures on a petition to encourage Java City to offer fair trade espresso on campus. In addition to expanding Fair Trade availability on campus, the group advocates communitywide education on fair trade and an open forum for debate on trade and international policy.

"Fair trade isn't about giving people monetary aid, but it gives them economic opportunities, directly to the farmer," said Tina Steiger, a political science freshman and spokeswoman for the group. You can find the Gainsville Sun article on the Fair Trade fair here.

Fort Lewis College (Durango, CO)
Students at the Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College received a mini-grant to promote Fair Trade on campus during Fair Trade Month in October. They used the funds to bring Pascual Ataulfo Moreno, a Fair Trade farmer from Chiapas, Mexico, to the school. Pascual and Jean Walsh from TransFair USA met with a group of student activists, conducted an interview for "Making Waves," the campus environmental radio program, and gave an evening presentation that was attended by over 65 people.

According to Marcus Renner, one of the event's organizers, "The project was a tremendous success. The evening presentation was very well attended and raised the profile of our Fair Trade program on campus and in the community. The connections made between the students who organized the event were important and we hope will continue to flourish as a new generation of students takes up the Fair Trade banner. We are hoping to build a campus-community coalition around Fair Trade in Durango. The event also helped broaden the Environmental Center's constituency. We network with several immigrant services and immigrant rights groups in town and they were excited about the event. It was one of the highlights of our semester."

College of New Jersey (Ewing, NJ)
The Student Committee for Fair Trade received a mini-grant to celebrate Fair Trade Month in October. The group held a movie screening of Buyer, Be Fair: The Promise of Product Certification, at which they gave out samples of Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea and chocolate, raffled off a pound of FTC coffee, and held an engaging discussion after the film. By advertising the event using flyers, table tents and Facebook, the group packed the room to capacity.

Joleen Ong, a key campus organizer, explained one of the tactics used in the campaign: "We gained permission from the College to put up posters on stakes, which we hammered into the grass next to the walkway between the library and the student center for one week. This walkway has the most traffic during the day, as students are shuffling from class to the library to the student center. We put short, informative facts about Fair Trade on each of the seven posters, including a picture of a farmer from various international Fair Trade cooperatives. The response from the student body was positive, and we noticed that students were slowing down to read the posters."

Members of the group scheduled a meeting with Sodexho's Director of Operations to get Fair Trade Certified coffee in the library café. After explaining Fair Trade Certification, providing educational brochures, and describing the various activities students were organizing on campus to generate awareness and demand, the decision-maker (who previously did not know about Fair Trade) was convinced and eager to support the cause. Starting the following Monday, Fair Trade coffee was officially being brewed in the library café!

To promote the new FTC coffee (Starbucks' Café Estima), the committee handed out quarter-page flyers to customers waiting in line. As a result, the Fair Trade coffee program on campus has been a huge success. Read an article in the campus paper, Signal.

Rice University (Houston, TX)
Rice Coffeehouse, a completely student-managed coffeehouse in the Student Center on Rice University's campus, made the switch to 100% organic Fair Trade Certified coffee through a local roaster, Katz Coffee. This was a critical step in enabling the embattled student-led Coffeehouse to remain competitive. According to student activist David Stagg, "Having certified fair-trade coffee is a rallying point for a lot of students, and many agree with the principles TransFair stands for."

Rice Coffeehouse also now offers "Office Packs" of Fair Trade Certified coffees that all offices on Rice University can purchase and have delivered to their workplace so that they can brew their own Coffeehouse/Fair Trade Certified coffee in the morning.

Says Coffeehouse General Manager, Rice student Mara Courtney: "We think the [fair trade coffee] tastes better, and we believe in the fair trade mission. We all agree that fair trade is something important enough to be a part of."

College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, VA)
Through their Fair Trade Campus Campaign, Students for Fair Trade convinced Dining Services to serve Fair Trade Certified coffee in all dining facilities. Today, the campus Starbucks and Java City locations offer a Fair Trade blend and Fair Trade coffee replaces conventional coffee in William and Mary's three main dining halls!

University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
Last spring the Fair Trade Coffee Coalition organized a three-day Fair Trade Faire. The group secured donations of coffee mugs from local artists, bags of coffee from local coffee companies, and coupons for free cups of coffee from a new 100% Fair Trade café on campus. They had coffee sack-races and a spun a 'Fair Trade Wheel'. A member of the group even dressed up as the black and white 'Fair Trade Man' from the Fair Trade label.

Says student Rod Palmquist, "It was really easy to do. We got pairs of black and white sweatpants, t-shirts and face paint, and one of our members stitched two costumes (one for a FT Man and one for a FT Woman). This turned out to be really cool. Passers by took pictures with the Fair Trade Man, and people in general wanted to know what we were about. These ideas were great for publicity, and I would highly recommend them to groups at other schools."

Thanks to a partnership between the Fair Trade Coffee Coalition, the Department of Housing and Food Services, and Tully's Coffee, Tully's has begun research on the development of its first ever Fair Trade Certified espresso blend. Read all about it here.

New York University (New York, NY)
Student organizers at New York University won a Fair Trade Month mini-grant from TransFair USA to promote October's Fair Trade on campus. They held a gala, conference, and launched a "Leave Your Mark on Aramark" petition campaign to persuade campus foodservice provider Aramark to offer Fair Trade Certified products. According to Oxfam America at NYU president Amanda White, "The proportion of the student body that now knows about Fair Trade is enormous. We've also gotten so much press over the past couple of weeks, and that's helped us push Aramark towards change."

Read an article from the Washington Square News.

View the NYU Fair Trade petition here

2005 Campus Campaign Highlights:

Brandeis University (Waltham, MA)
In a tremendous victory for campus activists, Brandeis University became the latest in a growing number of colleges and universities to switch some of its food establishments to solely Fair Trade Certified coffee.   Two dining halls and a campus convenience store now exclusively offer Fair Trade Certified coffee.   This change comes on the heels of the overwhelming passage of an undergraduate student body referendum on switching to solely Fair Trade coffee sponsored by junior Lauren Abramowitz and senior Dan Mauer on behalf of the student group the Fair Trade Brigade.   Nearly 900 students voted in the referendum, with 620 in favor and 259 against, giving the sponsors over 70 percent of the vote.

Cornell University (Cornell, NY)
The Cornell Coalition for Trade Justice campaigned hard to get 100% Fair Trade Certified coffee offered at one of Cornell's largest on-campus cafes, in addition to the 100% Fair Trade coffee already provided in the dining halls. Cornell Dining has agreed to revamp all café menus and signage to promote Fair Trade and educate the campus community about its importance and impact.
> Read article “Featured Progressive Group: Cornell Coalition for Trade Justice” (Turn Left, April, 2006)

Denver University (Denver, CO)
Students for Positive Social Change teamed up with Net Impact to host a talk by Jovanny Coronel, a Fair Trade banana farmer from Ecuador, during Fair Trade Month in October 2005.

Luther College (Decorah, IA)
With the help of over forty students and faculty, Luther College students organized Fair Trade Fest, an alternative to holiday consumerism that was both educational and entertaining. Students raffled off a plethora of donated Fair Trade goods from organizations including Equal Exchange and Dagoba Chocolates, raising over sixty dollars in good-will donations. Now, all coffee served at Luther is Fair Trade Certified!

Minnesota Colleges
A Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) conducted a study showing that Minnesota college students support Fair Trade. Nearly 50 percent of the nearly 1900 respondents at eight Minnesota colleges indicated that it is "very important" that campus vendors sell Fair Trade products, while 41 percent responded that it is "somewhat important."

St. Norbert College (DePere, WI)
Chase Powers, a senior doing an internship with the Peace and Justice Center, led a lobbying effort to Make Trade Fair at St. Norbert. The group succeeded in getting two articles published in local newspapers and worked with the Director of Dining Services to make sure that Fair Trade Certified coffee is offered at several prominent locations on campus.

San Francisco Day School (SF, CA)
After learning about Fair Trade in a research project, a group of 7th graders at the San Francisco Day School felt strongly enough about it to lobby their teachers to purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee for the school.   Today, all the coffee at their school, as well as the affiliated high school, is Fair Trade Certified.  

UC Davis (Davis, CA)
Students at Davis worked hard to get Fair Trade Certified coffee onto campus. They did their research, hosted an event for Fair Trade Month with a Fair Trade farmer, got articles published in the school paper, worked closely with the dining service director, and in the fall of 2005 succeeded in bringing Fair Trade Certified coffee from Pura Vida to the Davis community.

UC San Diego (La Jolla, CA)
In the fall of 2005 the UC San Diego chapter of One Earth One Justice, a social and environmental advocacy group, launched an educational Fair Trade campaign aimed at increasing awareness of Fair Trade Certified(TM) products. Coinciding with their campaign, the UCSD Housing and Dining Services decided to carry Fair Trade coffee in all campus residential dining halls.

University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
Students Making Trade Fair sponsored a series of events highlighting the successes of Fair Trade coffee cooperatives in Nicaragua. Events featured live music performed by members of the fair trade group, guest speakers, skits, parody videos, audience participation, squirt guns, and student presentations. They also raised money for Coffee Kids.

University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)
The UR Fair Trade Campaign hosted a panel on Fair Trade and several tabling events, and launched a campaign with informative posters, brochures and information on Fair Trade.

Your School Here ! If you're engaged in a winning campus campaign, tell us about it! Email ebertani(at)transfairusa.org.