Keep Starbucks Off UC Irvine

The University has reached a contractual decision to allow Starbucks coffee on campus, taking over both Cornerstone Cafe's role and location. We oppose this decision on several principles; primarily the inevitable termination of current Cornerstone Cafe workers, the loss of diversity in cafe menu items, Starbucks' policies as a multinational corporation, its utter proximity to other Starbucks Venues, and its anticipated inhospitality to campus events so partial to Cornerstone's operation. There are already 29 Starbucks within a 5-mile radius of UC Irvine, yet there is only 1 Cornerstone Cafй in existence.

Corporations, like Starbucks, are notorious for pushing out small businesses in order to spread its market control. Starbucks, which is already represented across the street both at the Campus and California location and another at a Bison and California location, will provide only those goods found in its homogeneous corporate network, and will deny students access to the variety of food items and coffee blends that are only found at Cornerstone Cafe. As well, Starbucks, operating under its corporate principles, will be unreceptive to student activities like open mic events, performances, and group meetings so common to Cornerstone.

The establishment of Starbucks will also result in the termination of the employees of Cornerstone Cafй, who have maintained positions at Cornerstone for many years and have become familiar faces with which students on campus have relations. Starbucks, like other service industry corporations, is notorious for poor labor standards, offering little more than minimum wage, and often hires employees at 39-hour weeks, directly under full time status to deny workers full time employee health care and benefits.

Therefore, we the undersigned demand that Cornerstone Cafй remain open as an icon on the campus and deny the establishment of a Starbucks at UC Irvine. We demand that the administration of University of California at Irvine repeal its decision to replace Cornerstone Cafe, in order to preserve the unique on-campus center that is incomparable with the monotony of the Starbucks brand.