Another US college rejects Coca-Cola

Diana Garza

Director, Issues Management

Coca-Cola North America

1 Coca-Cola Plaza

Atlanta, GA 30308

Dear Ms. Garza,

I am writing to confirm our decision about the renewal of our Coca
Cola contract. In my letter of May 15, 2007, I conveyed to you that,
after considerable review and deliberation, Smith College's Soft Drink
Advisory Committee had recommended that Smith not permit the Coca-Cola
Corporation to participate in its upcoming soft drink bidding process.
You asked if you and a group of your colleagues could meet with us to
try to change our minds. The meeting was not persuasive in altering
our view. I have consequently accepted the committee's recommendation.
In light of Coca-Cola's business practices in Colombia and India,
Smith will preclude Coca-Cola from the list of approved bidders when
we enter the contract renewal process later this summer.

This is not a decision reached lightly. Smith's relationship with Coca
Cola spans some five decades; over the years, we have enjoyed positive
interactions with our local distributor, which has supplied both bulk
dispensers in our dining halls and vending machines throughout the
campus. We conveyed our emerging unease to Coca-Cola President Donald
Knauss two years ago, in a letter I wrote highlighting our concerns
about issues related to union organizing and environmental
degradation. We urged the company to address growing problems in these
areas.

In reaching its recommendation, the Soft Drink Advisory Committee,
comprised of faculty, staff and students, followed a careful process.
It conducted an extensive review of written materials provided both by
Coca-Cola and the Coke Off Campus national organization. It then gave
representatives from both groups the opportunity to discuss the
concerns raised by the committee. As I relayed to you, a significant
majority of the committee did not feel that Coca-Cola responded
persuasively to the committee's questions and concerns.

As a private college with a public conscience, Smith College takes
issues of human rights and environmental sustainability very
seriously. Social responsibility is a core value of the college, one
we aspire to reflect in our educational mission and in our campus
operations. In severing our ties with the Coca Cola Corporation, Smith
joins other institutions and organizations around the world in urging
Coca Cola to take significant steps toward more responsible business
practices across all realms of its operations.

Sincerely,

Carol T. Christ

President

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