Revisions to the DSP

Attachment: Designated Suppliers Program – Revised

Attachment: Summary of Modifications to the DSP 9-29-06

The Designated Suppliers Program (DSP) Working Group has been meeting since March of this year. As you know, the Working Group is comprised of representatives of universities that have publicly articulated support for the DSP and expressed a commitment to work together to move the program forward. The Working Group also includes student representatives from United Students Against Sweatshops and is staffed by the Worker Rights Consortium.

A central goal of the Working Group has been to identify key stakeholder concerns about the DSP and to develop ways to address these concerns in order to enhance the effectiveness of the program. Our efforts have included six face-to-face meetings, including a special day-long forum with more than forty licensees at Georgetown University, as well as several conference calls and numerous other discussions. Licensees and other key stakeholders have been an important part of the conversation.

The Working Group is pleased to announce that we have made very significant progress and that a new version of the DSP is ready for consideration by institutions of higher education. The revised program includes major modifications that speak directly to the concerns that universities, both inside and outside of the Working Group, have expressed about the program.

The changes are outlined in the two attached documents. The first document, titled “Summary of Modifications to the Designated Suppliers Program,” describes each policy change from the original DSP proposal (and identifies the stakeholders’ concerns that each change is designed to address). The second document, titled “Designated Suppliers Program-Revised,” is a re-statement of the DSP, reflecting these modifications.

While there is still work ahead of us, we believe that we now have, in this modified DSP, a program that will advance our common goal: ensuring that apparel bearing our trademarks is produced under humane working conditions. We invite other universities with an interest in the DSP to review the changes we have made and consider supporting this revised program and joining the Working Group. For further information on this document and the work of the DSP Working Group, please contact Jim Wilkerson of Duke University, Chair of the Working Group, at jim.wilkerson@duke.edu.

Members of the DSP Working Group

Julia Filippone University at Albany
Mark Collins Brandeis University
Glen Fichman University of California System
Paul Tabolt and William Wei University of Colorado at Boulder
Honey Sue Fishman Columbia University
Julie Bell-Elkins University of Connecticut
Mike Powers Cornell University
Jim Wilkerson Duke University
Doug Shaw Georgetown University
Irene Cornish Hamilton College
Jenny McDaniel and Dick McKaig Indiana University
Lon Moeller University of Iowa
Lee Sharkey and Mary Ellen Martin University of Maine – Farmington
Mel Tenen and Alan Fish University of Miami
Jim Briggs Santa Clara University
Carol Schnitzer and Christine Kaczmarek Skidmore College
Karl Kowitz and Tom Riddell Smith College
Peter Webber Syracuse University
LaMarr Billups and Dawn Crim University of Wisconsin – Madison
Tim Hillman and Sara Wallace-Keeshen United Students Against Sweatshops