The University of Houston Students for Fair Trade, who have received a Campus Progress Action Grant, were featured in the Houston Chronicle yesterday for their long running and energetic campaign make all coffee sold on campus fair trade certified.

Check it out:

Students carrying a giant replica of a coffee bean stormed Chancellor Renu Khator's office at the University of Houston on Monday, the latest skirmish in their two-year campaign to force the school to offer only fair-trade coffee in a library kiosk. […]

The student government association last year approved a resolution supporting the proposal. Letters and other documents distributed by the student group indicated Aramark plans to install a Starbucks in the library, building the kiosk with $60,000 in student fees. (Starbucks buys some fair-trade coffee but not exclusively.)

A university official noted that the funds for the kiosk will not come from student fees, but rather from “auxiliary funds earned by self-sustaining support operations, which include parking, food services and housing.” I don’t know the details, but this seems like splitting hairs. As far as I know, all off the auxiliary funds listed are, indeed, fees charged to students, but not “student fees” that are charged to the entire student body. Either way, students are paying for the kiosk, and should have some say about how it will be operated.

The group has gotten some nasty comments on the Chronicle’s website, so make sure to leave some words of encouragement!