A paper cup at Starbucks Coffee is heating things up at Bob Jones University . It's so hot, the conservative university switched coffee companies and no longer buys from Starbucks.
FOX Carolina's Jamie Guirola reports, with each cup of coffee at Starbucks comes an inspirational quote. It's quote #43 that got alumni and students at Bob Jones to start asking questions.
A morning cup of coffee is nearly ritual for countless people and at Starbucks, whether it's a Marble Mocha Macchiato or an Espresso, some of you will get it in a cup served with a shot of something to think about.
Martina Trouesdale/Coffee Drinker: "I love Starbucks, its good coffee".
Each cup has a quote. It's a program called "The Way I See It" with a disclaimer on its website that the views expressed don't always represent Starbucks. The coffee company says it prints them to brew conversation. Number 43 did just that and more.
Sarah Donovan/B.J.U. Graduate Student: "That puts them at risk of people thinking they believe those things and they don't."
Number 43 got B.J.U's attention because it is from an author who says his only regret about being gay is hiding it for so long. B.J.U. believes homosexuality is a choice and that it's an immoral choice. So the administration stopped buying Starbucks products for its campus coffee store saying the move wasn't meant as a statement or a boycott.
Sarah Dingledine/B.J.U.: "Everybody knows they have that stand. We, as Christians, believe it is sin in the eyes of God but that doesn't mean we have a problem with homosexuals".
B.J.U. also tells us Starbucks refused to respond when administrators tried to find out more about the cup. But, when we called a Starbucks spokesperson Monday, we got a call back. She told us Starbucks called B.J.U exactly 15 times between last September and when service was cancelled last month. The brewed feud definitely has regular coffee drinkers talking.
Trouesdale: "I don't know if it would stop me from buying Starbucks coffee. I don't know. To each his own really".
Buyer's Guide How much does it matter if the clothes you wear or the coffee you drink comes from a company that supports diversity and gay rights? It matters enough to Bob Jones University to cancel its account with Starbucks. So we decided to see how other companies rank in support of gay rights.
FOX Carolina's Jamie Guirola reports, Starbucks has a very open and accepting policy toward gays. The company also offers benefits to domestic partners. Still, this Corporate Equality Index or buyer's guide from a group supporting human rights gives Starbucks an 86 out of a perfect 100.
Every year, for the past 4 years, the Human Rights Campaign publishes this buyer's guide saying from coffee to education-- gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, also called G.L.B.T spent more than $610 billion in 2005.
To get a perfect score in the buyer's guide a company must have programs, training and insurance benefits in place for the G.L.B.T. community. Last year, more than a hundred companies scored 100%. That's up significantly from 2004 for businesses totaling more than 5 million employees all together.
Here are some other rankings. Going to the Market: Perfect: PepsiCo, Miller Kraft Worst: H J Heinz, Nestle
Medicine Cabinet: Perfect: Glaxo SmithKline, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer Worst: Bayer
Computers & Toys: Perfect: Microsoft, Apple, Dell Worst: Newell Rubbermaid
Filling Up Perfect: BP, Chevron Worst: Exxon Mobil
jamie.guirola at foxcarolina.com