Walking around most college campuses, one can't help but notice hundreds of shirts, hats, backpacks, coats, and hooded sweatshirts emblazoned with school logos.
But a recently revived nationwide movement is now questioning where that apparel comes from and how it is made. The Designated Suppliers Program, along with United Students Against Sweatshops, has been trying to convince universities to agree to sell only ethically produced apparel.
In this installment of "By the Numbers," the Daily looks at the numbers behind collegiate apparel and the movement for sweatshop-free goods on campus.
40 Number of schools that have pledged to take part in the Designated Suppliers Program.
200 Approximate number of schools with offshoots of the organization United Students Against Sweatshops
$3 billion Amount universities spend annually on apparel with their institutions' names and logos, according to The Nation
13 Number of students who faced threats of suspension for participating in a sit-in outside the office of USC's president last year
35 Number of additional students who were involved in a sweatshop-related rally that day
6 Hours the sit-in lasted before the protestors had to give up under threats of suspension
8 Number of years the campaign for sweatshop-free goods had been active at USC
24 Number of Columbia students who marched on their president's office in 2005 to protest sweatshop labor
11 Number of Stanford University students arrested in May during a campus protest against sweatshop labor there
$0.85 Hourly wage a typical garment worker earns in El Salvadore, according to the Workers' Rights Consortium (WRC)
$2.52 Amount they would have to make per hour to constitute a living wage as defined by the WRC
25 Percent of university apparel that must be produced at non-sweatshop factories after the first year under the Designated Suppliers Program
50 Percent that must be produced that way by the second year
75 Percent that must be produced that way by the third year on the plan, after which universities decide whether to continue with the strategy or abandon it
20 Number of apparel companies who are members of the Fair Labor Association, an anti-sweatshop coalition, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education
-by Matt Skibinski
