The University of Louisiana at Lafayette bookstore has committed to selling fair-trade apparel made by workers receiving livable wages, following the efforts of a student-run campaign.
The university chapter of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Student Ambassadors spent the semester working to make the change, The Acadiana Advocate reported.
“Essentially, what we are saying is that every purchasing act is a moral act,” Amélie Desormeaux, president of CRS, told The Acadiana Advocate. “It’s not just this moral transaction—it’s a human transaction. I am buying the goods that human hands have gone into making.”
The school’s bookstore since has agreed to work with Alta Gracia Apparel, a company based in the Dominican Republic that pays living wages to its workers, and is owned by Knights Apparel—which, in turn, is owned by Hanesbrands.
Though the school has committed to making an order once Alta Gracia is properly licensed, it will not remove the current stock of apparel. It also won’t cut ties with Adidas, the football team’s current apparel sponsor.
“[CRS wasn’t] looking to take away brands from the bookstore or anything like that,” Wil Perkins, the university’s Student Government Association president, told The Acadiana Advocate. “They were asking to add a brand, offering more to students.”
