Student involvement in the Ethical Buying Task Force (1979 )

This letter was written by Catherine Zuckert, a Political Science professor and a faculty member of the college's Ethical Buying Task Force at the time, to college president Robert Edwards. The college created the Ethical Buying Task Force (EBTF) as an early step toward considering divestment. When the Task Force was created, the group's charter included two student representatives appointed by the CSA.

Interestingly, on the first page of the letter, Zuckert references details of the Ethical Buying Task Force's founding. She mentions that “I would not like to see a repeat of the decision on the composition of the EBTF which resulted from pressure by the audience at a Council meeting.”

This moment reveals an otherwise unrecorded administrative resistance to the student involvement in the Task Force, showcasing the power of activist participation and pressure within administrative spaces as a method of pursuing change.

The following two pages of the letter show Zuckert’s draft for an official Ethical Buying Policy.

This second item records a meeting of the Ethical Buying Task Force held a week after Zuckert's letter. The meeting minutes reference the "Sullivan draft policy and the Zuckert revision" that were discussed in the previous item. 

Cooper and Gonzalez, the two student representatives, are referenced several times. This item shows the extent of their influence, highlighting the impact of activist involvement within administrative structures. This participation was made possible by student activist participation and pressure during the College Council meeting referenced in the previous item.