RAND_MR1382

eleased a list of their suppliers for countertrade in Burma. 63 Dining services agreed to
this request. The Harvard students asked PepsiCo to fax its list of suppliers. Dining
services also made a separate request for the information. Simons says neither the
students nor dining services ever received a list.
Meanwhile, the 1996 Pepsi shareholders meeting had commenced and a resolution was
introduced to withdraw from Burma. PepsiCo’s management effectively blocked the
filing of the resolution on the basis that Burma did not represent a significant portion of
its business. In reaction, Billenness wrote a letter to Pepsi and the shareholders
explaining the effects that the Boycott Pepsi campaign had had on the company. He
included the clippings from events at Harvard. This proved to be a boost to the students,
who felt their efforts were extending beyond their campus.
The Burma student activists requested that their student government pass another
resolution that specifically asked dining services to sign a contract with Coca-Cola and
not Pepsi. This passed through the student legislature, and dining services renewed their
contract with Coca-Cola. Dining services then went on the record explaining that Burma
was a factor in its decision.
A media campaign ensued, and the Harvard students were courted by mainstream news
organizations. Students downloaded press releases, conferred over the Internet with
other student leaders in the FBC, and then sent their statements to the press. Stories
appeared in the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, on the Associated Press wire,
and in local newspapers. 64 In addition, Simons said he received overseas calls from the
BBC and from a Belgian news outlet.
Other students who subscribed to the FBC web site and email list were able to follow
what was happening at Harvard and use information generated there for campaigns on
their own campuses. They also emailed and conversed with other students to discuss
techniques and strategy, while learning from past mistakes.
Even with the help of the Internet, not every student campaign on Burma was a success.
An effort at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., did not go very far. 65 Another
Boston university, Tufts, also saw a spark of student activism on the Burma issue. The
Tufts activists were hooked up to the Net, which they used to communicate with the
Harvard group. But the Tufts students were unable to convince their student government
to pass a resolution that would end their dining services’ contract with Pepsi. Kaiser had
been to the student government to lobby in favor of PepsiCo in the wake of the Harvard
campaign. Tufts students also admit that they did not have as good a relationship with
dining services as the Harvard students did. The director of dining services deferred the
Pepsi decision to the university president, who renewed Pepsi’s contract.
The Network