Academic Year in Review: 2018-19

Now that we’ve reached the end of the 2018-19 academic year, it’s time to look back on our accomplishments. We are so happy to see how much our work has grown over the past year, thanks to our amazing Fair Trade advocates across the country!

Fair Trade Campaigns is always growing. Throughout the last year, we’ve welcomed dozens of new college, university and school campaigns, and seen a several more achieve Fair Trade designation – including a few exciting firsts!

At the end of the 2017-18 academic year, there were 52 declared Fair Trade Colleges & Universities and 35 declared Fair Trade Schools. Today, we have: 

• 56 Declared Colleges & Universities 
• 40 Declared Schools
• 123 Active College & University campaigns
• 46 Active School campaigns

By the Numbers

1,468: Number of Fair Trade College, University and School organizers advocating for Fair Trade on their campuses 

115: Number of Fair Trade Colleges, Universities and Schools that participated in Fair Trade Finals

66: Percent of Fair Trade Schools that partnered with other groups and initiatives on their campuses 

34: Number of  Fair Trade Colleges, Universities and Schools that incorporated Fair Trade into academic courses 

85: Percent of Fair Trade Colleges, Universities and Schools that hosted at least 2-3 events over the past year 

Declarations  

The past school year saw five of our school campaigns and four college and university campaigns earn Fair Trade designation.

K-12 Schools

• Anna High School (Anna, TX)
• Blair Academy (Blairstown, NJ)
• Saint Andrew’s School (Boca Raton, FL) FIRST IN FLORIDA!
• Saint Ursula Academy (Cincinnati, OH)
• Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (Chicago, IL) FIRST IN CHICAGO!

Colleges & Universities

• St. Thomas Aquinas College (Sparkill, NY)
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, CA)
• North Seattle College (Seattle, WA)
• Marist College (Poughkeepsie, NY)

New Campaigns

24 Fair Trade College & University campaigns started

• Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH)
• Cal Poly Pomona (Pomona, CA)
• California State University San Bernardino (San Bernardino, CA)
• Christopher Newport University (Newport News , VA)
• College of Marin (Kentfield, CA)
• Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
• DeSales University (Center Valley, PA)
• Landmark College (Putney, VT)
• Marian University (Fond du Lac, WI)
• Mary Baldwin University (Staunton, VA)
• Mount Saint Mary’s University (Los Angeles, CA)
• Oglethorpe University (Atlanta, GA)
• Phoenix College (Phoenix, AZ)
• Ramapo College (Mahwah, NJ)
• St Bonaventure University (Saint Bonaventure, NY)
• Unity College (Unity, ME)
• University at Albany (Albany, NY)
• University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL)
• University of California Riverside (Riverside, CA)
• University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT)
• University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)
• University of Wisconsin River Falls (River Falls, WI)
• West Chester University (West Chester, PA)
• Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA)

7 Fair Trade School campaigns started 

• Blair Academy (Blairstown, NJ)
• Hunter College High School (New York, NY)
• Saint Andrew’s School (Boca Raton, FL)
• Saint Ursula Academy (Cincinnati, OH)
• South Pasadena High School (South Pasadena, CA)
• Westtown School (West Chester, PA)
• Whitney M Young Magnet High School (Chicago, IL)

Campaigns Make Headlines

Campus organizers have been hard at work to embed Fair Trade in their communities, and several have received well-deserved recognition for their efforts. Take a look at these newsworthy accomplishments from our campaigns and partners.

• St. Andrew’s School became the FIRST Fair Trade School in Florida.
• The University of Iowa passed a school-wide resolution committing to Fair Trade initiatives on campus.
• Brown University student and Fair Trade advocate Camila Rice-Aguilar wrote about Fair Trade and its global impact in a Teen Vogue Op-Ed.
• Cal Poly brought Fair Trade to the California State University (CSU) school system by becoming their first Fair Trade campus.
• St. Thomas Aquinas College became the 6th Fair Trade University in New York state and the 53rd in the country.
• Chartwells, a food services provider to over 280 higher education institutions across the country, announced their commitment to sourcing Fair Trade products at all of their campuses.

2019 National Conference

This year saw over 375 Fair Trade advocates braving the cold weather and coming together in Chicago for three days to network, learn and converse about all things Fair Trade at the 2019 National Conference.

We had 20 campuses across the nation enroll as Campus Partners, supporting their students’ attendance! A special thank you to the 10 campuses that funded student attendance in both 2018 and 2019: Arizona State University, Bentley University, Brown University, UCLA, University of Dayton, DePaul University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Kentucky, Rollins College and St. John’s University.

The 2019 Conference gave campaigners a chance to explore our four program tracks through interactive workshops, presentations and lectures. We were proud to give the stage to speakers from a number of Fair Trade Colleges, Universities and Schools, including Arizona State University, Dayton University, St. John’s University, University of Kentucky and Whitney M. Young Magnet High School.

Missed the conference, or just want to reminisce? Check out the photo gallery, highlights video and video recordings of all the main stage sessions.

2018-19 has been a wonderful year for Fair Trade Colleges & Universities and Fair Trade Schools. We can’t wait to see what the next school year will bring!

• Get Involved! Find out what it takes to designate your school.
• Join Us in SoCal! Mark your calendars for the 2020 National Conference, taking place March 20-22 in sunny Pasadena, CA.

Did we miss your news or updates? Share your favorite Fair Trade moments from the past year with us!
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