Activists of the United Students Against Sweatshops organization made a Valentine’s Day card to deliver to President Crow on Feb. 14. The organization wants ASU to end its contract with VF Corporation brands sold on campus. (Photo by Alexis Macklin)The VF Corporation has been pushed out of the ASU Bookstore by the United Students Against Sweatshops organization, and popular products like JanSport and The North Face have been banned from sale.
This past summer, the University chose not to renew its contract with the VF Corporation. The corporation decided not to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord, which provides a safety net for factory workers in the Bangladesh Garment District.
In 2012, a fire broke out in a Bangladeshi factory that killed 112 workers. The next year, the factories owners and some employees were charged with culpable homicide. Last month, The Alliance of Bangladesh Worker Safety ordered the VF Corporation to fully close or partially close 10 of its factories.
President of USAS Alex Korsick said this was a small piece of the year-long process it took to get some of these major brands out of the bookstore.
“I am consistently really amazed by the effect students can have,” Korsick said. “We as students can affect global change.”
Korsick, who is a justice studies senior, said the amount of work she has to do is "insane."
“I don’t sleep much, because I try to have a social life,” Korsick said. “When you care about something, it doesn't matter how much time it takes.”
USAS took action with constant organized activities in the process prior to the decision to no longer have the VF Corporation's products in the bookstores. USAS sent a card to University President Michael Crow on Valentines' Day, insisting the administration should void the contract with VF.
USAS is a national organization of students that has branches all over the country and the ASU branch has been active only a few years. Korsick said there is a steady relationship between the ASU’s branch and the others scattered across the country.
Nicole Hale is the vice president of USAS, and she works with Korsick with many issues that arise with the organization. The two have been friends since freshman year of high school.
“It’s a little chaotic, because we're taking on a lot (of work),” Hale said.
Despite the amount of time the organization takes, Hale said she and Korsick still remain good friends outside of the office, and Korsick was one of the reasons why she became involved.
“The two biggest feelings (that come from working with USAS) is being overwhelmed, but feeling empowered,” Hale said. “The empowering part is when I realize USAS is a network of students.”
Some students, such as alumnus and former USAS president Jonathan Londono, have moved on from the organization but played an intricate part in the process of VF Corporation's removal from campus bookstores.
“VF wasn’t very happy with USAS then and they’re still not currently happy,” Londono said.
Londono said since 2005, there have been roughly 1,800 deaths at garment factories in Bangladesh.
He said ASU was the first major college to get JanSport and The North Face banned from bookstores. He said other universities are trying to follow suit.
“I didn’t realize at the time how fearless I had to be,” Londono said.
Reach the reporter at jwilli62@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @JonWilliams_23
