Balliol Revokes Coca-Cola Ban
Coke : No longer banned at Balliol bar.
Balliol JCR has overturned its ban on Coca Cola only four days after its original boycott was passed. The motion was initially brought in response to Coca Cola’s ethical record and the effect of its activities on farmers in Kerala. The JCR run pantry currently sells around 600 cans of Coca Cola a week, meaning the ban could have cost the JCR up to £5400 a year.
Jamie Lee, the third year lawyer who brought the motion to overturn the ban, admitted there would have been “one or two practical problems” in its enforcement. However, he told The Oxford Student he took action because he felt that it was an issue of personal choice. “It should be a matter for the individual if they decide to buy Coca Cola or not."
Pantry representative Jack Hawkins also denied the move showed the JCR was more concerned with money than ethics: “Most JCRs haven't even debated this issue, so the fact that it came up shows that we've got a lot more moral integrity than most other colleges. The ban was overturned for a range of reasons, not just because of financial concerns."
However, he added that because the JCR ran the pantry, they had to take into account the effect something like this ban would have on the JCR's interests as a whole, and that it would be irresponsible to do otherwise. Anna Wolmuth, Balliol JCR’s Ethics representative, expressed her disappointment at the move, saying: “The issue is not one of personal choice, it's about institutional choice."
“[It’s a question of] whether the JCR as a whole would like to make an active statement about the Coca-Cola's record of social and environmental irresponsibility, which obviously I think it should.” Lee emphasised the motion did not change the JCR position on Coca-Cola’s business practices: “The motion still makes clear our objects and our President will still be writing to the Director of the Environmental Change Institute to voice our concerns about Coca Cola scholarship."
A motion to ban Coca Cola failed at a St Hugh’s JCR meeting last Sunday. However, St. John’s reaffirmed its existing ban after a motion to overturn it was defeated. Mansfield JCR recently mandated their JCR President to write to the Geography department and Linacre college, expressing concern at recent investments in the University made by the drinks firm.
9th Jun 2005