No to Prison Food.

FOLLOWING A STUDENT-LED PRESSURE CAMI?AIGN, American University announced in April that it would drop Sodexho Marriott as a long-term food services contractor. In announcing the decision, AU's vice president of finance cited "social responsibility" as a motivating factor.

American

University joins a growing list of colleges which have dropped or denied contracts to Sodexho Marriott because of the company's ties to the nation's largest private prison corporation, the Correctional Corporation of America (CCA). Other such colleges include State University of New York (Albany), Goucher College (Maryland), James Madison (Virginia), Oberlin College (Ohio), Evergreen State College (Washington State) and DePaul University (Illinois).

Activists say private prison systems run by CCA and other companies are notorious for their poor management.

"While there are very serious problems in public prisons, there are additional concerns about the management of private prisons," says Kevin Pranis of the Prison Moratorium Project.

"Private prison companies have also distorted criminal justice policy. Through groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, they have pushed tough-on-crime and prison privatization laws to expand the number of private prisons."

Student activists across the United States have waged campaigns to kick Sodexho Marriott off campus for two years. While many students have raised their concerns about the company through campus contract review committees, some have resorted to sit-ins and other protests.

"There have been many misrepresentations about Sodexho's role in the corrections industry," Pierre Bellon, Sodexho's CEO, wrote to University of Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds in May. "We are committed to divesting from CCA and we are committed to our continued efforts to improve prison conditions wherever we provide service."