Endowment, Dining Services Tied to Coke

Although Coca-Cola soda fountains are a familiar sight in Annenberg and House dining halls at Harvard, the administration and students here have largely been quiet about the company’s alleged human rights and environmental violations.

According to Jami Snyder, the communications coordinator for the Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS), HUDS currently has three contracts with Coca-Cola—for bottled soda, fountain syrup, and Odwalla juices, respectively.

These contracts only supply HUDS, and do not apply to the other schools of the University, she said.

Snyder refused to specify how much HUDS spends on Coke products, citing that releasing such information is “a bad business practice.”

However, she said, “We’re nowhere near the level of Michigan.”

The University of Michigan’s contracts with Coke cost $1.4 million in the 2005 fiscal year, according to a statement on the university’s website.

Filings by the Harvard Management Company indicate that the University owned $15.326 million in Coca-Cola Co. stock, as well as $1.137 million in Coca-Cola subsidiaries, as of Sept. 30, 2005.

Despite the University’s investments in Coca-Cola, there have been no student protests here similar to those at Michigan urging contract cancellation.

Harvard was also absent from a May 2005 meeting in Washington, DC, between concerned college administrators and students and Coca-Cola executives, according to Coca-Cola spokeswoman Kari Bjorhus.

A working group created after the meeting has been in collaboration with the soft drink company to develop assessment protocols of its business practices that the colleges will feel comfortable with, Bjorhus said.

In response to the accusations made against Coca-Cola, Snyder wrote in an e-mail, “The alleged environmental and human rights abuses by Coca-Cola or their competitors are a matter for the courts.”

In a follow-up telephone interview, Snyder also said that she is personally not aware of any proposals for HUDS to suspend its contracts with Coke.

—DAVID ZHOU