Students for Fair Trade at UH took a token of appreciation to UH President Renu Khator’s presidential suite on Tuesday for her efforts in making fair trade coffee more accessible to students.
The students, who gave to Khator a letter and cardboard thank-you card, which included samples of fair trade coffee, said buying a cup of fair trade java is much easier for students this semester than ever before.
"We felt the administration deserved a pat on the back for actually going through with adding more fair trade coffee on campus," said Markos Mendoza, philosophy senior and Students for Fair Trade at UH member.
Fair trade coffee can be purchased at dormitory cafeterias in Oberholtzer Hall and Moody Towers, Einstein Bros., Starbucks, Java City and Shasta’s Cones and More. Before this fall, Shasta’s Cones and More and Java City, both located in the University Center, were the only fair trade coffee vendors on campus.
The student group, an affiliate of United Students for Fair Trade, also proposed to Khator that she continue supporting fair trade efforts on campus.
The student group suggested the Java City coffee vendor should sell only fair trade coffee by Spring 2009.
"It’s not an outlandish idea because they’ve done it at other schools," Mendoza said.
In a letter to Khator, students stated Java City’s national sales manager informed them that 23 Java City outlets on Aramark accounts sell only Fair Trade coffee.
"They’re moving in the right direction," said Brendan Laws, Pre med sophomore and SFT at UH member. "This would be an easy step to have another all-fair-trade vendor on campus."
Members of UH Students for Fair Trade said this move both increases awareness at the University regarding fair trade purchases and aids families in Third World Counties.
