Mike Alberti Assistant Life Editor

Ray Rogers has been called “a legendary union activist” by Business Week, and Time magazine stated that he “has brought some of the most powerful corporations to their knees.” On Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Rocky 200, Rogers will speak to Vassar students on behalf of the Vassar Killer Coke Campaign. The event has been organized by Reed Dunlea ’09 and is sponsored by the Vassar Greens.

Rogers serves as president and director of the New York City-based Corporate Campaign, Inc. The campaign has been championing union membership and community solidarity along with family involvement in campaigns for social and economic justice for 25 years.

The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke aims to hold Coca-Cola’s policymakers and key shareholders accountable for the murders of union leaders and other human rights violations reported from Colombia.

A coaltion of Vassar organizations, including the Vassar Green Party, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlán (MEChA), Vassar Greens, and the Student Activist Union, are attempting to persuade the College to ban Coca-Cola products on campus because of the social injustice associated with the company. Several other schools have already terminated major contracts with Coke, including Bard College, Hampshire College, New York University (NYU), Oberlin College, Rutgers University and Swarthmore College. The bans are symbolic gestures, as the colleges recognize that they will not make a huge financial effect on the company. However, NYU made national news when it announced its boycott, and the Vassar coalition is hoping to add to the publicity of the international campaign.

As of now, this strategy does not seem to have been put into action. Chair of the Food Committee Marcy Levitan ’08 said, “As of our last meeting, the Killer Coke students had not reached out to Director of Campus Dining Maureen King. My feeling is that it’s not a sweeping, campus-wide movement and has not become substantial enough that Coke products will be eliminated on campus. This may change if it gains more support in the future, but only time will tell.”

The coalition hopes that Rogers will help garner this support, as he has done for the campaigns at other schools that have been successful in banning Coke products, according to Dunlea.

Rogers has been in close contact with the Vassar Killer Coke Campaign, serving as a sounding board for ideas and helping to create a successful strategy. “He’s been really insightful,” said Dunlea. “He’s really made a difference in a lot of schools, and he’s given really helpful advice as to where our campaign should be going.”

Besides the Killer Coke Campaign, Rogers has worked for the Transport Workers Union Local 100 in New York, and helped the union to win an unprecedented settlement from the city. He also helped Pacifica Radio listeners take back the nation’s first and only non-commercial, free-speech radio network from a corporate faction that had seized control of its national board, and he has been involved in a successful struggle to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“He’s one of the most effective unionizers, probably the most effective in this area,” Dunlea said. “He’s been doing union activism for a long time, and he’s made a big difference on a lot of issues. Anyone who is interested in activism or social justice could learn a lot from [Rogers].”