“They must be nuts,” Parsons junior Jasmine Kohen, 20, said furiously.

Earlier this semester, The New School replaced Arnhold Hall’s Starbucks café with Brooklyn Roasting Company, a locally owned coffee company.  

“I was very bummed when I first found out Arnold Hall no longer serves Starbucks,” student Dianna Yudelson told the Free Press.

Yudelson is one of many students who got in the habit of having her morning coffee at Starbucks before class and was upset at the thought that Brooklyn Roasting Company would no longer serve her favorite coffee drinks.

Arnold Hall Café workers explained that the only difference between the Brooklyn Roasting Company and the Starbucks drinks is the coffee beans. The recipes used to make the drinks and the options available have not changed.  “[The school] wanted to go organic,” café worker Alton said.

The new coffee shop has not disclosed a menu to the public yet. Student Sophia Omm told The Free Press that she saw some students leaving the line immediately after finding out that Starbucks had been replaced with another brand.

“They left the line without even asking the baristas what was available for them to get,” Omm said.

But after trying Brooklyn Roasting Company’s cappuccinos and lattes, some students said they like the new coffee.

“The quality of coffee is better than Starbucks,” student Carolina Coviello said. Coviello also pointed out that there is more to this change than what other students may have noticed.

“The new coffee shop shows that the school is more open to promoting local and environmentally friendly brands rather than big corporations, the origins of which practices are dubious,” she said.

She also believes that Brooklyn Roasting Company will grow in popularity in the long run, as more and more students break their Starbucks addiction and decide to give it a try.

“Overall the school is trying to be more conscious about the food we serve and about supporting the local community,” The New School’s senior director of business operations, Edward Verdi, told The Free Press. “Brooklyn Roasting Company deals with fair trade. It’s a small private company making sure both the farmers and the community benefit.”

Verdi explained that the decision to switch companies took a long time to make because the school wanted to get feedback from the community. His office compared the flavor and quality of the coffee, as well as the level of engagement in sourcing the products.

“Overall, it’s great tasting coffee,” Verdi said.