What are the benefits of colleges and universities affiliating with the WRC?
The WRC’s core work is assisting colleges and universities with enforcing their manufacturing codes of conduct and combating labor rights violations at factories producing their logo apparel. WRC affiliates receive accurate, thorough, timely, and impartial assessments of conditions in factories that produce collegiate apparel and whether these conditions comply with universities’ codes of conduct. Where problems are identified, the WRC works with licensees, factory managers, workers, and worker advocates to eliminate violations and move the factory toward compliance. Often, this occurs without any need for direct engagement by universities, though such participation is always welcome. In some cases, universities choose to use the detailed information contained in WRC reports as a basis for communicating concerns to licensees. The WRC also provides a means for colleges and universities to work together with other schools to address problems with a particular licensee or factory.
The WRC is also a respected resource for information and research on issues in the global apparel industry. We have extensive information on economic and legal issues in apparel-producing countries, which we make available to our affiliates. Universities can consult with the WRC staff and our international network of advisors on our areas of expertise.
More broadly, by participating in the WRC, a university sends a strong message to concerned parties—students, faculty, and licensees—that the university is committed to ensuring that its licensing operations have a positive impact on the factories that produce their logo goods.