Coke Isn’t It at the University of Delaware Anymore

After nine years of Coke and only Coke being sold on the University of Delaware campus, students will start finding a different cola in their vending machines upon returning from winter break: Pepsi.

Coke lost out on the UD contract when Pepsi signed a deal for an undisclosed sum, according to the Wilmington News Journal.

While it isn’t clear how much money is changing hands, the News Journal notes that a school similar in size to UD, Colorado State University, signed a $5.2 million, 10-year deal with Coke earlier this year.

In times like these, everybody is looking for a few extra bucks. "It wasn't that there was anything the matter with Coke," David Singleton, vice president for facilities and auxiliary services, told the paper. "It was a business decision."

“It strikes you as funny because you say 'soft drinks' is located pretty far from what higher education is about," said Alex Molnar, a research professor at University of Colorado-Boulder and publication director of the National Education Policy Center. "So why are we even talking about this? Well, because it's a revenue stream."

Molnar notes that the soda companies actually pay a small amount per student, the paper notes. The Colorado State deal equates to a little less than $17 per student. "It's laughably small per student," he told the News Journal. "But the soft drink companies get something very valuable in return, which is the credibility of associating with the institution."

The new deal doesn’t necessarily mean that students won’t be able to find Coke on campus at all — just not in the cafeteria, vending machines, or on-campus concession stands. So where else is there?

Well, a “growing number of colleges throughout the country now find themselves managing a conflict between the officially ordained soft drink company and students who work as hawkers distributing free samples, selling and supplying rival products to the campus.”

According to the newspaper, one estimate has it that “10,000 students across the country work as ‘brand ambassadors' for brands including beverage-makers and work out of their dorms, frat houses, or on Facebook. Those people have got to be marketing or business majors.