PRESS RELEASE INFORMATION FOR FALL 2000

CONTACT: BRITTANY BRADDOCK, 778-7387

UMF PRESIDENT RECEIVES STUDENT PETITION TO GUARANTEE WORKERS' RIGHTS IN ITS PURCHASES

Student representatives of FACES, Farmington Area Citizens to End Sweatshops, have presented UMF president Theo Kalikow a petition signed by 759 UMF students, faculty, staff, and alumni urging that UMF adopt a binding code of conduct that assures that the goods it purchases and that bear the UMF logo are made under internationally recognized fair labor standards. We urged her to make UMF the first institution of education in Maine to be "sweat free."

President Kalikow told us, "I'm very sympathetic to what you're trying to do here. I don't want our university associated with the exploitation of workers." After a cordial discussion, she promised to study the specifics of our proposal, and to meet with student representatives of FACES. We look forward to working with President Kalikow on this important project.