Pomona College may drop Starbucks as a provider for Cafe 47 following a Feb. 25 meeting between members of Associated Students of Pomona College’s (ASPC) Food Committee and Assistant Vice President of Facilities & Campus Services Bob Robinson, according to multiple sources in attendance.
According to Soren Murphy-Pearson PO ’29, a Claremont Student Worker Alliance (CSWA) member and co-chair of ASPC’s Food Committee, Robinson must seek approval from the faculty executive committee, and said students might not see changes until the 2027-28 school year.
Pomona signed a contract with Nestlé last spring, following the company’s alliance with Starbucks in 2018, which allows it to distribute Starbucks-branded products outside of retail cafes.
This switch in vendors sparked a yearlong “Drop Starbucks” campaign launched by CSWA, which held a rally outside of the Smith Campus Center on Feb. 20 to further its cause. Students who attended the rally heard speeches from CSWA, professors and students advocating for Pomona’s departure from Starbucks.
Robinson said he first heard concerns from CSWA after meeting with its members last October, when the group began a petition to remove Starbucks from campus. Since then, they have collected 541 responses in support of ending Pomona’s contract with Nestlé.
Murphy-Pearson said that when the Food Committee was originally consulted about switching vendors from Peet’s Coffee to Starbucks last spring, ASPC did not support the switch. He said the committee recommended that dining services conduct a student survey beforehand.
Murphy-Pearson and other CSWA members were informed of Pomona’s decision to switch to Starbucks with the rest of the student body when they returned to campus last fall.
CSWA steering member and one of the leaders of the Drop Starbucks campaign, Lina McRoberts PO ’27, said that the lack of student feedback considered in the decision was hypocritical to Pomona’s ethics about shared governance.
“There’s this obvious, ‘We know that students are going to oppose it, and so if we just don’t ask them, they can’t oppose it because they didn’t have the option,’” McRoberts said. “Not only is it that [Pomona] should not contract with Starbucks and Nestlé because of their obvious labor rights abuses, but it’s also that [Pomona] didn’t even give us an opportunity to speak about it in the first place.”
Jason Alperin PO ’28, a rally attendee, similarly said that Pomona should be doing more to implement its principles of shared governance and noted that many students are still left in the dark by the college.
“I’ve talked to a lot of Pomona students, or 5C students, who aren’t really aware that suddenly Cafe 47 is sourcing from Starbucks. It’s refreshing because … now things are moving, and we’re making our voices heard,” Alperin said.
In an interview with TSL prior to his meeting with ASPC on Wednesday, Robinson said that improving his department’s communication with the student body would be a key focus for him in the coming year.
“I wasn’t personally at those meetings when it was discussed about moving away from Peet’s … but it was my understanding that it was discussed with the Food Committee and they were in agreement,” Robinson said. “Now, that process is murky … which is why I’m trying to change that dynamic and have a much more structured Food Committee operation.”
Robinson said the contract with Nestle provided Pomona with certain incentives, such as a free $14,000 espresso machine and funding a sustainability program for reusable cups.
“That’s why it’s a complicated process,” Robinson said. “It’s not strictly dollars. Is our sustainability practice important to us in reaching carbon neutrality by 2030? Yes.”
According to Murphy-Pearson, ASPC is currently working to approve a resolution drafted by CSWA, which he hopes will solidify ASPC’s position to replace Starbucks with another vendor in a timely manner.
“When you complete this change fast, it kind of restores trust throughout the community as a whole and in administration,” Murphy-Pearson said. “We want changes that students care about to happen quickly.”
CSWA member Damien Starling PO ’29 said the resolution encourages administration to consider Klatch Coffee, a fair trade-certified vendor that The Motley Coffeehouse uses.
Nayeli Arizpe SC ’26, who also attended the Feb. 20 rally, is a cashier and barista at the Coop Fountain and a former CSWA member who said Starbucks has union busted in multiple shops across the country and engaged in unfair labor practices.
“I think it was really cool, just to hear those stories [about Starbucks], and to hear why people are getting involved,” Arizpe said. “ I think it definitely encourages others to be more aware of the situation and to continue standing up for workers and to continue fighting these institutions that fail to serve the workers and fail to serve the students.”
McRoberts said that in their meeting with Robinson last fall, CSWA members were urged to “keep the workers in mind,” which she said implied that a vendor change would require retraining and temporarily reduced hours.
However, McRoberts said that CSWA’s efforts directly support Cafe 47 workers.
“We entered that meeting as the same organization that fought for workers’ rights and job security on campus,” McRoberts said. “And it is precisely in their interest, as well as the interest of baristas nationwide, that we oppose a partnership with the corporation defined by serial labor violations.”
As of Feb. 27, ASPC will discuss the Drop Starbucks resolution at their next meeting, before it is released to the student body for open comment.
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