Bookstore Punts Adidas Gear From Shelves

By Robert Wear

Santa Clara is now the seventh school in the nation to stop selling Adidas apparel.

The company found itself in hot water after the 2011 closure of the PT Kizone factory in Indonesia, when they refused to pay over 1,000 workers a severance of $1.8 million.

Adidas, the second largest sports apparel company in the world, claims that they have no legal duty to pay these lost wages despite the fact that other companies using the factory, including Nike and the Dallas Cowboys, have paid the full amount they owed.

Assistant Vice President of Auxiliary Services Jane Barrantes said that the university has canceled all orders and is holding off until Adidas comes to a resolution about the PT Kizone factory closure. Although the campus bookstore will still be selling the inventory it already has, there will not be new merchandise available until the university decides to renew its contract.

Santa Clara has yet to make an official, public statement regarding their decision to discontinue the merchandise, but the school is affiliated with the Worker Rights Consortium, which has taken a stand against Adidas in the controversy.

Director of Santa Clara Community Action Program Nate Funkhouser said the call to justice for these workers is crucial to upholding the integrity of our university, just "as our Jesuit values of social justice dictate."

Santa Clara follows Cornell University, Oberlin College, University of Washington, Rutgers University, College of William and Mary and fellow Jesuit institution Georgetown University in canceling orders. In response to international pressure, Adidas offered aid in the form of food vouchers, yet many workers rejected them, describing them as "abuse."

Contact Robert Wear at rwear@scu.edu.