By Margaret Hawryluk

A cup of hot chocolate heated up more than just the bodies of Student Against Injustice (SAI) protestors at last Tuesday’s overnight peaceful demonstration against Coca-Cola Corporation’s contract with the University.

The purpose of the protest was to put an end to the exclusive contract that Lackmann Food Services holds with Coca-Cola Corporation, forbidding the sale of any other company’s beverages on campus. SAI’s goal is to end the beverage “monopoly” and provide more choices for the University community.

To express his sympathy for the perseverant the students, 15 of whom slept outside his office all night, President Stuart Rabinowitz had hot chocolates sent down to the protestors. The protestors, whose exhaustion was overshadowed by feelings of happiness and pride, were initially thankful, Blyth Barnow, a junior interdisciplinary social sciences and creative studies major in the New College said.

“We appreciated the generosity, but we don’t want him to think that it’s going to end this,” Barnow said.

In his act of generosity, however, Rabinowitz overlooked a major detail РLackmann Food Services serves Nestl̩ brand hot chocolate, which is affiliated with the Coca-Cola Corporation.

Nestlé’s Web site states that its leading brands, Nesquik, Nestea and Nescafé, are distributed through a joint venture with Coca-Cola Company, Beverage Partners Worldwide. Therefore, the hot chocolate served at Burlaps, inside the Student Center and other various places around campus, all have a connection with Coca-Cola.

The protestors also missed this major detail as they willingly accepted the warm beverage on that cold morning. After realizing the blunder, Barnow admitted, “It was a mistake on our part, it won’t happen again.”

This mistake had also brought to SAI’s attention that the group needs to be more active in their future efforts, Barnow said.