Students for Justice in Palestine says “people are not happy” to see the franchise given space amid a global boycott of the company.
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A pro-Palestinian student group at the University of Regina (U of R) says many already plan to boycott a recently announced full-service Starbucks coming to campus.
The act is in solidarity with a global movement to do the same over the coffee giant’s perceived complicity in the ongoing violence against Palestinians in Gaza.
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“Starbucks is unwelcome on our campus and this is insensitive to the situation that’s going on in Palestine right now,” said Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) organizer Batoul Avouelela.
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“All across campus, people are not happy with this.”
The university announced Wednesday across its social media pages that a full-service Starbucks will be opening inside the Dr. John Archer Library later this year.
To be operated by Forster Foods, a licensee that also runs five other Starbucks in Regina, the U of R location will open in fall of this year and hiring is under way, according to its website.
The franchise announcement happened the same day students led a walk-out protest in solidarity for victims of violence in Gaza, Congo and Sudan.
Avouelela said backlash to the news was immediate, with hundred of comments appearing Wednesday on the U of R’s Instagram page “shaming the university for bringing Starbucks to campus.” All have since disappeared, as comments have been turned off on the post.
Similar responses do remain on a post from a separate, newly created Instagram page for the incoming Starbucks, totalling over 170 and nearly all expressing some form of disappointment or anger.
The Palestinian flag is used frequently in the comments, as are calls to “free Palestine,” “stay off our campus” and “#boycottstarbucks.”
“It’s important that our voices are heard,” Avouelela said. “And when comments are being turned off, students aren’t able to express that.”
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The reaction stems from a public global boycott against Starbucks this fall after it sued its worker’s union for using the company’s trademarked logo in a post on social media expressing solidarity with Palestinians.
Both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists have put Starbucks on their boycott lists, and Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) has endorsed adding the company to its targets.
An email statement from a university spokesperson said the U of R is “aware some concerns were expressed on social media,” but clarified that the agreement is with Forster Foods, “a local family company operating a Starbucks licensed store.“
“The University of Regina has not entered into any partnership with Starbucks and this location is not a corporate store,” said the email.
The statement further clarified the contract with Starbucks is not related to the ending of the U of R’s food services contract with long-time provider Chartwells, to expire at the end of April.
Avouelela said students “feel strongly” about the importance of standing up for Palestinian rights. SJP has led three student walk-outs since October calling for a ceasefire and for university and elected officials to publicly do the same, including on Wednesday, and several other stand-ins and actions.
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“We’ve been following the events in Gaza for the past months, and we’ve been seeing first-hand the atrocities, the bombing, the starvation — it’s disgusting,” she said. “We know that Starbucks is one of the companies on the boycott list that are funding the genocide in Palestine.”
The U of R Students’ Union (URSU) has also endorsed a stance in support of Palestinian people facing violence in Gaza, a ceasefire and BDS sanction movements, as recently as February at its 2024 AGM.
Avouelela added that a campus boycott of Starbucks is likely to be passionate, as it’s “one thing that many students feel that they can do and it does make an impact.”
“Boycotting, knowing that your money is not going to something that is supporting a genocide, is something that’s powerful,” she said.
Avouelela could not say if any protest actions are planned to directly oppose the new cafe opening — by SJP or others — but that she and her group will be vocal against the business’s presence at the university.
“If we aren’t able to push back enough to not have this branch open on campus, then we will be sure to bring awareness to everyone and make sure that they won’t be having customers,” she said.
“I’m sure that students won’t stay silent.”
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