A newsletter distributed this weekend by the coalition reports that the group is hopeful about the bookstore’s future. Although school officials told the Journal last month that no final decision has been made, the coalition now says the administration appears to have changed its “rhetoric.”

“Rather than defending the recommendation to outsource, they seem to be denying that a recommendation of any kind was ever really made,” the e-mail states. “We find this change in tone very encouraging.”

News of a potential bookstore change surfaced in early March, after a university review committee said its majority favored leasing the bookstore to a national retailer. At the time, the committee recommended that outsourcing and continued self-operation “should be explored more fully” before any decision was made.

The coalition rallied in mid-March to show their support for the bookstore.