Letter to the Editor

As I'm sure you are all aware, there is a plan to bring Tim Hortons into the Williams Center which would ultimately replace the Buster Brown and Bean Company at the Grind.  A fellow student and staff member, Andrew Platt, and I have taken it upon ourselves to relay this information to the campus and the community.  We are also spearheading a petition to keep Buster Brown at the Williams Center.  Through this petition, it has become very clear that the student body, faculty, and even the community want to maintain a Buster Brown presence on the SUNY Fredonia campus.

 The Buster Brown and Bean Company is a small business owned by two SUNY Fredonia alumni and has also been incubated on our campus.  The Fredonia/Dunkirk community is definitely one that aims to support small, local businesses- just like Buster Brown.  SUNY Fredonia claims to be a college that aims to support the same thing.  As a small, independently owned business, Buster Brown provides employment for around forty workers.  Among them are students and non-students who work part-time and full-time at the four current locations on campus, at the TimeOut concessions, and catering services.

 The Buster Brown and Bean Company always provides- and is always willing to provide- fundraiser drinks for the multitude of extra-curricular groups on campus.  At each of the cafe locations, you frequently see a sign or even signs advertising new drinks that have helped raise money for groups across campus, but also for various causes.  These causes include Relay For Life, the No H8 Campaign, cystic fibrosis, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, leukemia, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Pink-in-the-Rink (breast cancer), children in need of organ transplants, the environment, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis- and these are just some that I can name off the top of my head.  There have indeed been many others over the past four years.  

 The Buster Brown and Bean Company also sponsors scholarships and provides internships for undergraduate students throughout there time here at SUNY Fredonia .  They have also made it one of their goals to help give back to the campus and the community.  Sustainability, eco-friendly endeavors, and environment alliance brands are other goals the company aims to achieve.  If these accomplishments have gone overlooked by the powers that be, than it seems no one is paying attention.  

 I must stress that of the 1,500 signatures that Andrew and I have gathered thus far, nearly every person has expressed a disdain for the idea of pushing Buster Brown out.  There have been notable complaints and questions as to why almost no one was notified about this potential plan.  Some have gone as far as describing this deal between FSA and Tim Hortons is shady.  Some have also suggested that it should be further scrutinized.  I must also stress that htis petition and the concerns regarding keeping Buster Brown on campus are not against or anti- Tim Hortons.  It is nothing against them nor is anyone trying to defame them, or FSA for that matter.  However, with all of these concerns noted, it seems evident that keeping the Buster Brown and Bean Company at the Williams Center, as well as their other locations on campus, is in the best interest of Fredonia.

 At the FSA event in the Horizon Room this afternoon, President Hefner adamantly claimed that the FSA board is "very responsive" to the students needs.  I for one always assumed this to be true.  However, learning that Buster Brown may being pushed out because of FSA's desire to bring Tim Hortons to this campus, it appears to many the FSA may not exactly always have the students needs at mind.  Although they were willing to accept information at a later time, I was surprised how quickly some board members tried to silence my concerns this afternoon and not address them immediately.  I have the highest hopes and also hope that I can have the highest trust that these concerns will be addressed as quickly as possible, and also that a correct decision can be made from them.  

Thank you for your time.

Will Reilly

Secretary, Pride Alliance

Social Chair, Alpha Psi Omega