Since last Sunday’s debate over the Kick Coke campaign’s resolution, some Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council members have been busy gathering the opinions of their constituents.
In an e-mail sent to Council and The Miscellany News on the night of Wednesday, Oct. 29, Class of 2009 President Luis Hoyos explained his ongoing efforts to gauge different viewpoints, which some felt were lacking at Sunday’s meeting. He e-mailed his constituency following that meeting, and by Monday afternoon, already had nearly 80 responses. He will compile those responses and send them to Terrace Apartments (TA) President Riane Harper ’09, who is herself compiling the opinions of TA residents. He encouraged all Council members to e-mail their constituencies and send the responses that they collect to Harper.
Currently, data on student opinion is unclear at best. As evidence of support of their campaign, the Kick Coke group presented a Spring 2008 survey about campus dining in general. The survey included a question about replacing Coca-Cola products. About 450 students responded, of which about 53 percent supported removing the company’s presence from campus. Yet a Miscellany News online poll created on Sunday night has already garnered 206 responses; 70 percent of those responses oppose passing a resolution that would support removing Coke. Additionally, the Kick Coke campaign has met with vocal opposition from many students, as expressed in various e-mail chains among the Class of 2009.
In his e-mail to Council, Hoyos expressed concern about the current resolution. “We as a Council cannot take a stance on either side of this issue,” he cautioned. “I would feel incredibly irresponsible voting for something that endorsed either kicking or keeping Coke, because a large portion of my constituents would not support either of those options and because there are unexplored issues and unheard arguments on both sides.”
Rather than passing a resolution for or against kicking Coke, Hoyos and Harper have been discussing the possibility of creating a report for the Committee on College Life (CCL) and President Catharine Bond Hill about student opinion on the matter. The report would contain some of the most common arguments on both sides, as well as the number of people who responded to Council members’ e-mails on either side of the issue. “In the end, the decision to kick Coke falls on CCL and [Hill],” wrote Hoyos. “And in this case I think our role should be to serve as a source of information, not pressure.
In a subsequent e-mail to Council and The Miscellany, Cushing House President Mathew Leonard ’11 said that he strongly supports Hoyos’ idea. “I have received almost 60 responses and literally they are tied,” he wrote. “I cannot feel comfortable supporting this or opposing it.”
The matter will be discussed again at the next VSA Council meeting on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in the College Center Multi-Purpose Room.
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