It leaches calcium from bones and has phosphoric acid listed as a main ingredient, but objections to Coca-Cola on campus at the “Coke, Pepsi, or Water?” forum had nothing to do with Coke’s health effects, or even its taste.

Hosted by Dean for Campus Life Aaron Fetrow and Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Life Randy Doss, the forum was held on Sept. 5 to question whether Coke’s corporate practices violated the college’s ethical purchasing policy. Objectionable offenses by Coca-Cola included having too much pesticide content to be approved for human consumption in India, and privatizing water utilities in Columbia.

The forum was held in response to a presentation by the Sodexho Independent Study Group on the ethics of Coke and Sodexho last May to Doss, which illustrated Coke’s moral violations. “We did a presentation about Coke, Sodexho, and Starbucks that discussed our objections to them, our objections to their past, and reflected on whether we wanted to support them on campus,” said the group representative.

“Today is about starting the questioning process,” Doss said.
Guilford has one year remaining on its contract with Coca-Cola, which supplies all sodas for the cafeteria and all vending machines on campus through Sodexho.

“Pepsi came and asked ‘Are you happy?'” Doss said.

But Pepsi has a corporate record similar to Coke’s, and the forum reached a consensus that neither Coke nor Pepsi was acceptable.
“We have a corporation problem,” Fetrow said, “and it will be nearly impossible to find a soda that isn’t tied to a corporation.”

RC Cola, Sunkist and local, privately-owned Cheerwine are being considered as alternatives, but Director of Dining Services Michael Watts warned that the switch could come at an increased cost to students and would result in fewer options.
The forum briefly considered abandoning soda altogether but concluded that choice was beyond its purview.

“I’m not sure we can say for everyone here that we’re okay without soda, because 98 percent of our students aren’t here right now,” Fetrow said.

Polls are being formulated to gauge the campus’s response, but many at the forum were concerned the polls would be taken out of context. Last year’s poll conducted by Watts established that the campus prefers the taste of Coke, but Coke or Pepsi were the only choices, and corporate ethics were not considered. Seven people still turned in polls that said “neither,” despite the fact that it wasn’t an option.

The Sodexho Independent Study Group continues to research the problem and alternative companies every Wednesday at 3 p.m. in King 126. The forum and group hope to have a viable consensus before the contract runs out in 2008, at which point it will make its recommendation to President Kent Chabotar.

“The President makes the decision in accordance with the Board of Trustees,” Doss said, but he assured the assembly that the forum’s recommendation would carry weight in the decision.