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It's been 12 years since UNL students have purchased Coca-Cola products on campus. But that could change in June 2009. The exclusive contract between Pepsi-Cola and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will expire, and for the first time since 1997, the university may be changing its soft drink.
 Before establishing the contract with PepsiCo, UNL ran its own vending services and had no alliance with any specific company. At that time, the university offered both Coke and Pepsi products, said Kim Phelps, assistant vice chancellor of business and finance. Under the contract, PepsiCo pays $1 million annually for the exclusive rights to sell its products at UNL dining halls, vending machines and concession stands.
The closest Coke machine to campus is at the Lutheran Student Center on 535 N 16th Street. Situated off university property, the center's vending machine is the second highest selling in the Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska region, according to Pastor Eric Bostrom.
"We are very proud to have it," Pastor Bostrom said. "We have received quite a bit of attention for the machine." He said it has been a good ice breaker for conversations. "Even faculty and staff have admitted to getting their Coke fix," he said.
Bostrom said he thinks of the center as the exclusive provider for Coke lovers on a Pepsi campus. 
Although the Pepsi contract has restrictions, Phelps said the university and students have a lot to gain from the exclusive agreement.
Click here to see a video about why UNL is a Pepsi campus
"People like to ask why it is important to restrict student choice as if it was a violation of the First Amendment," Phelps said. The contract funds scholarships, university improvements and student programs such as the Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences program. "Would you rather have both brands [of soft drinks] or give up programs such as UCARE?" he said.
UCARE, which provides funding for student and faculty to collaborate on research, benefits from the $11 million endowment made by PepsiCo. The endowment has helped finance the Pepsi Scholars program, which provides leadership-based scholarships to freshmen, and the construction of the Nebraska Soccer Field- allowing home soccer games to be played on campus for the first time in fall 2005.
Over the 12-year deal, Pepsi will have donated $24.2 million to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
While UNL has exclusive contracts with Adidas, Gatorade and Follett, Phelps said the Pepsi contract reaches a larger audience. "The value is so much different because there are more customers," Phelps said.
He said many of the 8,000 students who live on campus have meal plans for the dining halls -which serve Pepsi products exclusively. Pepsi also is the sole soft drink sold at Memorial Stadium for the 85,000 fans at each Husker football game.
Despite Pepsi's reign as the official soft drink of the Huskers, proposals from all firms will be considered for the next soft-drink sponsorship, Phelps said. While the incumbent may have the advantage, Phelps said challengers may have new, unique ideas. Phelps said Pepsi's Mountain Dew flavor played a major part in the company's winning the bid in 1997; its high-caffeine level appealed to students.
 "Back in the mid-‘90s, we were mostly concerned with having Mountain Dew," Phelps said "There was no Red Bull." According to Phelps, the beverage market has changed a lot since the original proposals. "Now nearly half [of the beverages sold] are not carbonated. And now the idea of a brand name has diminished," he said.
UNL is beginning to accept new contract proposals. "It is important to balance out [having] a single provider and being able to provide for student organizations," Phelps said.
However, students should not count on change based on the student body's preference. "The door would be swinging the other way on preference," Phelps said if the university would change to Coke. "People would then be asking, ‘Where is my Pepsi? Where is my Mountain Dew?'"
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