Syracuse University. No place for hate. Except when it comes to soft drinks.
Last week, Megan Thurston was minding her own business, chilling on Marshall Street. Thirsty, she decided to stop at CVS to pick up a beverage. A Coca-Cola. She then trekked up the hill to the quad, sipping the refreshment eagerly, enjoying it. When she reached the center of the quad, a SWAT team descended upon her, screaming, “Swarm! Swarm!” The SWAT team then proceeded to place a burlap sack over her head, throw her in a van, and lead her away from the campus.
“The next thing I knew,” says Thurston, shaking from the memory, “I was in the Chancellor’s office, surrounded by a panel of board members.”
Those board members were from Pepsi Co. They asked the rattled Thurston if she knew why she was there. Turns out, drinking Coca-Cola on a Pepsi Campus is a big no-no. A no-no that Thurston blindly ignored, resulting in her immediate expulsion from Syracuse University.
“It clearly states on our application that all Syracuse University enrollees shall not, under any circumstances, partake in the consumption of beverages made by any company other than Pepsi Co. Ms. Thurston disobeyed a major SU law,” said one SU representative.
Some students were shocked by the news, others indifferent. Sam Chan, a junior at SU, said, “I honestly don’t care. I never drink soda. I just stick to water.”
Chan, after a spontaneous meeting with some people who were definitely not from the Pepsi Co board, changed his statement to read, “I honestly don’t care, because I only drink Pepsi. Sometimes I drink water, but I only drink Aquafina. Because it’s a Pepsi product. And they’re the best company in the world, which I learned the other day, when I investigated the company on my free time and of my own free will.”
Damn straight.
