University of Kansas Dining will continue to serve Starbucks until 2030, when the current contract expires.
The KU Student Senate passed a resolution in the spring urging the university to end its business relationship with Starbucks and stated that its current contract expired in 2027.
Kate Eckert, then internal affairs director of the KU Student Senate, authored the resolution because she said the student body has advocated for collective bargaining, labor rights and labor laws in the past and should continue to in the future. She said Starbucks did the opposite of that.
However, Jack Kredo, the executive director for the KU Unions, said the contract is set to expire in June of 2030, which invalidates the resolution. Eckert refused to comment.
KU Dining has a contract with Nestlé, the multinational corporation that distributes Starbucks coffee products through the “We Proudly Serve Starbucks” program. KU Dining has 18 on-campus dining locations, including eight “We Proudly Serve Starbucks” coffeehouse sites.
“At this time,” Kredo said, “we are not considering any other companies due to our contractual obligations with Nestlé.”
This article was edited by Head News Editor Marissa Buffon. If the information in this article needs to be corrected, please contact marissa.buffon@ku.edu.
Dining and Cooking