School’s out! Time to learn a lesson from students.

It’s true that most college and university students are out for the summer and taking a break from their studies, but for many, it’s time to look back over the year and realize what’s been accomplished. Last week we were talking about parishes on fire, this week we have some outstanding Fair Trade progress that has been made on college and university campuses.

First, we need to congratulate Meghan Hurley and Amanda Finnegan from Cabrini College in Radnor, PA for winning the Eileen Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence. Meghan and Amanda both wrote a series of stories that helped spur the college’s food service to add fair-trade coffee and other items to its menus. It is the first time Catholic Relief Services has honored journalists for stories published in a college paper. Congratulations Meghan and Amanda for the award and for getting Fair Trade coffee on campus!

To continue with the college theme, we had a visit this week from Fair Trade Ambassador Chris Kerr. Chris is the coordinator of social justice initiatives at John Carroll University in Ohio. Chris and the students at John Carroll have been busy building a community knowledgeable and supportive of Fair Trade. A part of that has been working with their food service provider to hold coffee houses with free Fair Trade coffee while distributing information about Fair Trade. They’ve set up a Fair Trade page on the University website as well as a Facebook page to provide information on Fair Trade and publicize their events, like coffee sales with CRS Fair Trade coffee partner Equal Exchange. One particularly successful event was their Fair Trade flower sale for St. Valentine’s Day. By receiving a grant from TransFair, students were able to sell (and buy) 500 Fair Trade roses during the two-day sale. Students were also on patrol and voiced their desire for Fair Trade coffee by emailing the bagel shop on campus whenever they did not provide a Fair Trade option. The bagel shop now consistently provides Fair Trade coffee. Chris is happy to report that next year the campus of John Carroll University will be 100% Fair Trade coffee!

Thanks to the students at Cabrini and John Carroll for their hard work converting their campuses to Fair Trade. Any more good news to share from other campuses?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 and is filed under Coffee, Fair Trade . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “School’s out! Time to learn a lesson from students.”

1. Scott James Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 12:32 pm

   Chris (as well as the Cabrini leaders) recently brought our certified Fair Trade sports balls onto their campuses to extend their Fair Trade commitment from the dining halls to the athletic fields.

   Cabrini even held the world’s first Fair Trade wallyball tournament to raise awareness of CRS on campus. (See here for photos.)

   Well done, John Carroll and Cabrini! I hope many more universities will be inspired by your pioneering work.

   - Scott James
   Fair Trade Sports
   Blog: http://www.fairtradesports.com
   Eco-Certified Fair Trade soccer balls and more!

2. Chris Kerr Says:
   July 3rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm

   Thanks Katie - More info on the Fair Trade work at John Carroll can be viewed at: http://www.jcu.edu/campuslife/campusministry/socialjustice/fairtrade.htm

3. Laura Durington Says:
   July 7th, 2008 at 8:04 am

   It is so inspiring to hear about the amazing things students are accomplishing in regards to social justice issues.

   I wanted to mention that CRS has a fan page on Facebook as well as a MySpace page. We hope that you’ll friend us!

   Right now, if you become a fan and post on our Facebook wall, you’ll be entered to win one of three CRS backpacks. But hurry - the deadline to enter is midnight EST Wednesday, July 9th!

   Laura Durington
   Online Community Manager
   Catholic Relief Services

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