As I was walking to my classes around Clemson University, I counted 14 different people with Starbucks drinks in their hands. All those Starbucks cups made me curious about how many different Starbucks surrounded us. Starbucks has a monopoly over about 300 college campuses across the United States, and Clemson’s campus has three different Starbucks locations: Starbucks at McAlister Dining Hall, Starbucks at Douthit Hills, and one on the fifth floor of Cooper Library.
It seems a bit overkill to have multiple locations of the same coffee house chain, leaving no other real options to get coffee around campus. Though overkill, Clemson’s three Starbucks locations, compared with Arizona State University’s whooping nine locations, puts things into perspective. Gone are the days of independent coffee shops that provide places to study peacefully, to participate in activities with friends or stop in for some live music.
Including more locally owned coffee shops on campus would be a great way for students and faculty to enjoy activities that Starbucks does not facilitate. Many small coffee shops host open mic nights, board game nights, creative workshops, poetry nights, art galleries and trivia nights. Even though many at the University focus mainly on athletics, many students still take an interest in the arts or can appreciate these activities.
There are no places for students who are under 21 to go and enjoy live music or trivia nights in the area, except for in one of the bars downtown. It’s an Orwellian feeling to want to get something to drink or to hang out with friends in between classes and seeing that the only options around you are derivative megacorporations facing you every which way.
Besides the plethora of Starbucks, Clemson’s campus consists of a myriad of mainly homogeneous chain restaurants. Raising Cane’s, Which Wich, two Chick-fil-As, Panda Express and Einstein Bros. Bagels are the options for dining out on the school grounds, besides dining halls.
It is upsetting that for such a large university, there is no mom-and-pop shop that serves any genre of food and no coffee shop on campus that is not a Starbucks. Nonetheless, there is still a vestige of hope that a blaze of change will bring about new and local businesses to the campus.
I understand many campuses, including Clemson, reach a deal with Starbucks to host their coffee shop chains on college campuses. However, maybe Clemson could take notes from Cornell University, who decided not to renew its contract with Starbucks in 2023.
Getting rid of just a few of these restaurant or coffee chains could open the doors to new and local businesses that would encourage a sense of community. All things considered, having locally owned coffee shops on our campus would breathe new life into the atmosphere of redundant and boring chains, making up the whole of the University’s options for coffee and activities for students to enjoy in their spare time.
Sophie St. James is a sophomore English major from Central, South Carolina. Sophie can be reached at [email protected].
