Durham, N.C. - A consortium of eight universities is asking manufacturers of collegiate apparel not to reduce production at clothing factories in the countries most affected by the December 2004 tsunami.

A statement from the consortium reads, in part: "We ask our licensees that currently are sourcing goods from the countries worst hit by the tsunami -- Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand -- to take all reasonable steps to ensure that they do not reduce production in those countries, at least for the next 24 months."

The schools endorsing the statement are Brown University, Duke University, Georgetown University, Purdue University, the University of California, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan.

The statement is included in a letter that officials at the eight universities are sending today to 400 textile companies and more than 200 other universities. The idea for the letter came out of a March meeting, held at Duke and co-hosted by Georgetown, of universities, labor advocates and apparel companies.

"Apparel sourcing has an enormous impact on the economic health of those countries [debilitated by the tsunami]," said Jim Wilkerson, Duke's director of trademark licensing and stores operations. "There essentially would be very little left, other than farming and fishing, if apparel sourcing shifted out of those areas in a dramatic way."

The statement noted that the countries recovering from the tsunami are also struggling to adjust to the end of a major trade agreement, the Multi-Fiber Agreement, which limited the textile exports from competitors, such as China and India.

"We, as universities and corporations, should conduct business affairs in a socially and morally acceptable manner," Wilkerson said. "And people's lives are more important than maximizing profits."

Wilkerson said the eight universities issuing the statement will be able to monitor the response of clothing companies through quarterly disclosures the corporations are required to make about their factories. Already, he said, the companies that attended the March meeting -- adidas-Salomon, Holloway Sportswear, Knights Apparel and Nike -- plan to cooperate.

Consumers spend about $2 billion dollars per year on collegiate apparel, Wilkerson said.

"Unfortunately, in light of [hurricane] Katrina, we Americans will have a greater sense now from our own experience the suffering and devastation that the victims of the tsunami have experienced," he said.