When I joined the student group Coalition to Cut Contracts with Coca-Cola as a freshman in January 2005, I had high hopes. We had stacks of evidence against Coca-Cola, including an independent investigation by New York City Council Member Hiram Monserrate, a study by the University of Exeter, BBC News articles and eye-witness testimony from union leaders in Colombia. And after all, this was the University of Michigan, a celebrated progressive university with a Vendor Code of Conduct that was ahead of its time in promoting social responsibility. I was confident the University would send a message to one of the most influential multinational corporations in the world.

Yet when I picked up The Michigan Daily on Tuesday morning, I felt sad to see the results of the University's investigation of Coke (Coke cleared in India investigation, 01/15/2008) alongside its coverage about student outrage about graduation being held at Eastern Michigan University (Big House could still be an option, 01/15/2008). Let me clarify that I don't think that students should be quiet about graduation - on the contrary, as a graduating senior I feel that students should make every effort to make their voices heard. Further, I do not appreciate those people who assert that students should be ashamed to protest because graduation is not a significant enough issue. Our democracy depends on civic engagement no matter if the issues are big or small. The more voices, the better.

Rather, I was filled with a sense of sadness because the rest of the student body was painfully learning what I had learned over the last four years: The University administration shows a callous disregard for student voices.

I remember when I first realized the University disregarded students. It was the day I first received a phone call from the Daily, less than four months after the University had suspended its contract with Coke in late 2005. Our campaign had been meeting with the administration regularly, trying to find third-party auditors to assess Coke's environmental impacts in India and its labor practices in Colombia. University administrators assured us that it would take no action before consulting us as well as the communities in India and Colombia we strove to represent. On the day I received the call from the Daily, though, I was informed that the University had gone back on its word and resumed purchasing from Coke behind our backs.

On Monday I got another call from the Daily. The University had responded to a 16-month investigation by The Energy and Resources Institute and decided to continue doing business with Coke. I was shocked. The TERI report was scheduled to become public that day. I wondered how University officials could have read a report that was more than 500 pages and responded in a single day. But as I learned at yesterday's meeting with administrators, both Coke and the University had access to the TERI report in December. Our organization was never involved. Rather, Coke was given the opportunity to read and respond to the report before we even heard about it. The University made a decision completely without student input.

Like Daily columnist Arikia Millikan, who argued earlier this week that the decision to move commencement was a typical example of how the University works (Business as usual, 01/15/2008), I wasn't shocked at the University's decision to consider Coke's environmental practices acceptable despite TERI's report finding that Coke's water usage is unsustainable in two areas because of water exploitation. The University's actions have usually been far from its words.

There is an important lesson to be learned here: As students, we cannot assume that the University is acting in our best interests or the best interests of the community - local, national or international. Rather, we must be prepared to be the conscience of this university. We must insist that the University upholds its own standards and values. We must demand to have a voice in the process - not just on where we have our graduation, but on diversity, fair trade, human rights and monitoring Coca-Cola's compliance with the Vendor Code of Conduct as well.

Lindsey Rogers is an LSA senior.