Vendors at Elgin Community College are welcome to sell their products to students and faculty members as long as they fill out a vendor application and agree to the campus policies.

Amybeth Maurer, director of orientation and Student Life, is in charge of the procedures necessary to become a vendor at ECC.

“Vendors provide students an opportunity to learn about experiences and events in our community, to support local artisans and to help our clubs with fundraising efforts,” said Maurer.

Anyone can become a vendor at ECC as long as they meet the requirements. To become a vendor, one must complete a vendor application form, read through the vendor policies and then sign an affidavit that states:

“I have read the Elgin Community College Administrative Procedure 6.208 and Student Life vendor policy and hereby agree to abide by them. Furthermore, I agree to sell merchandise that is authentic, genuine and legitimate. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the immediate termination of the vendor agreement and removal from campus by security.”

This affidavit is designed to prevent ECC affiliates from getting into any legal predicaments regarding the sale of inauthentic merchandise.

Each vendor is also required to set up a table and their merchandise on campus twice per semester.

In the spring semester of 2015, it was confirmed that a vendor was selling inauthentic The North Face products on campus. The vendor, Chicago Ground, had many “name-brand” items in stock and claimed them all to be genuine. Whether or not the rest of the items in the vendors’ possession were authentic is not confirmed.

Administrative assistant, Lily Khoxayo, has been working to make sure each vendor abides by their legal agreements.

“Once in a while now I try to get someone, or myself, to go out there and check the tables,” said Khoxayo. “I don’t want them to know who, because if they know me they would hide it and stuff like that. So I try to get a student or one of the staff to walk around and go check it out and look like they are buying something.”

After the clear violation of the affidavit and Student Life Vendor Policy, Chicago Ground has not been back for business on campus.

“This vendor has not contacted us to return but when they do we will speak with them about the article and assertion that the merchandise was fake,” said Maurer. “When we were notified of this the vendor had already left and has not returned.  We do not plan on having the vendor back.”

In addition to reading through and signing the appropriate paperwork, vendors are also required to donate a specified amount of their earnings back to the school.

“We ask all vendors to donate 15 percent of their profits for the days they are here and those dollars are given back to the clubs and organizations,” said Maurer.

Students and faculty members are also allowed to be vendors at ECC.

Mei-Hua Demus, an ECC graduate from Taiwan, has been selling her products on campus since 2010. She studied graphic design and received her degree in December 2008.

Not all vendors at ECC are guilty of selling inauthentic products on campus. Each of Demus’s products are made from beads and charms that she has collected from several places around the world and are hand crafted into unique jewelry.

“I talked to Student Life and then I just went over some different kinds of applications and they really encouraged me,” said Demus.

Demus is also an employee at ECC and has been working in the testing center since 2007.

“I really appreciate this opportunity,” said Demus.