...
Boycott action on campuses and in communities from Florida
to Idaho is heating up. Here's just some of the latest
news to give thanks for this Thanksgiving weekend!...:
This month, Cal State University San Bernadino became
the 21st school to "Boot the Bell"! Over
the course of the last two years CSUSB campus activists
organized campus-wide forums, gathered 1,500 signatures
to send to their administration, and won endorsements
from 3 student and faculty bodies asking to remove
Taco Bell from campus. Although the Student Union
where Taco Bell was formerly housed was closed for
renovations over the summer, students were already
gearing up this semester to let their administration
know that they would not tolerate Taco Bell's return
to campus. They just received word that when their
student center re-opens... Taco Bell will not! 
That's
three schools in the last three months alone -- Notre
Dame, UCLA, and CSUSB -- to tell Taco Bell that social
responsibility is the price of admission to do business
in their communities!
Also,
while UCLA was making it official, changing out Taco
Bell for "Shorty's Subs" on that storied
campus (photo on left), campaigns at both Boise State
University and Washington University in St. Louis
were gathering momentum. At BSU, students protested
at a local Taco Bell (picture above, right), while
the Student Senate considers a resolution similar
to that passed 17-2 by the Faculty Senate last month
calling on BSU to end its sponsorship contract with
Taco Bell. Click
here for an article on the protest and the resolution
from the BSU newspaper.
Meanwhile the campaign at Washington University is
focusing on the renewal of Taco Bell's contract there
next year. Dining Services General Manager Kathy Carmody,
as quoted in the WU paper, seemed inclined to listen
to the students' concerns, saying, "Our contract
with Taco Bell is up next year," said Carmody.
"We're open to whatever students bring to the
table. We'd just as soon do another concept that students
want to see."
New endorsements are pouring in, from the peace and
anti-war
movement to national faith organizations. CODEPINK
and Pax Christi International joined our growing list
of endorsers from the world of peace activism, while
the Alliance of Baptist Churches, the Episcopal Migrant
Ministry, and the Christian Church in Florida (Disciples
of Christ) added their voices to the chorus of religious
organizations and churches supporting the call for
fair food. To all we send our heartfelt thanks!
Finally, right here in Southwest Florida, our own
Catholic Diocese of Venice ended a long-time relationship
with Taco Bell by disallowing the restaurant chain
to advertise in the Epiphany Cathedral's weekly bulletin.
Our hats go off to the folks in the Peace and Justice
office of the Diocese for their years of hard work
and unwavering solidarity with farmworkers here in
Immokalee.
