N.C. college considers Chick-fil-A ban
(Associated Press)
(Updated 7:18 p.m.)
A high-priced North Carolina liberal arts college is considering kicking Chick-fil-A off campus because of the Atlanta-based company’s leader’s position on marriage.
Several months after they were made, comments by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy in support of traditional marriage between a man and woman continue to reverberate. Earlier this month Cathy reaffirmed his commitment to “biblical families.”
The Student Government Association at Elon, a $38,000-a-year private college in north-central North Carolina, recently voted in favor of a resolution asking administrators to stop offering Chick-fil-A sandwiches on campus, according to The Times-News newspaper.
“We are honored to serve the students, faculty and staff of Elon University and to be a part of their campus,” said Chick-fil-A spokesman Jerry Johnston in a statement Wednesday. “The Chick-fil-A culture and 66-year service tradition in all of its locations is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. Our intent is not to engage in political or social debates.”
The Elon resolution, drafted by a campus gay-straight alliance, accuses the company of not being in compliance with Elon’s anti-discrimination policy, partly because critics say the company has funded groups considered to be anti-gay and lesbian.
The 35-11 SGA vote was made despite overwhelming support for Chick-fil-A by Elon students, alumni faculty and staff, according to a poll conducted by the student newspaper, The Pendulum, which supports keeping Chick-fil-A sandwiches on campus.
Chick-fil-A’s contract is with Aramark, Elon’s food service vendor. A university spokesman told The Times-News the college could instruct Aramark to find another vendor, but no decision has been made.
Whether Chick-fil-A is eventually dropped, however, is another matter. While many colleges have seen student protests and petitions against Chick-fil-A in the wake of Cathy’s comments, few have instituted an outright ban on the company’s sandwiches.
Elon, founded in 1889, has an enrollment of about 4,000 and ranks No. 2 among Southern universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 America’s Best Colleges Guide.”
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175 comments Add your comment
henry
October 17th, 2012
5:55 pm
ELON STUDENTS ARE STUPID………AND YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID
Jenna K
October 17th, 2012
5:56 pm
My recollection of student government in college is that nobody paid them any attention. It’s likely just kids who want to have something to put on the resume. But this would directly impact the kids so they might learn a lesson in representative politics.
BILLY MAYS HERE
October 17th, 2012
5:56 pm
Moderate
October 17th, 2012
5:52 pm
Dan Cathy made a personal statement of his personal beliefs in the context of a religious group. He has expressed no hatred nor animosity toward gay people. He also has made no statement in his executive role at Chick-Fil-A advocating any discrimination against any group. This is the inconvenient truth (stealing a phrase) that the gay advocacy groups don’t get.
CFA’s WinShape charity has given millions of dollars to organizations, including an actual hate group, that actively work to suppress gay rights.
Stop offering apologia for CFA; stop whitewashing the issue. We don’t care what Dan Cathy said; we care about what he’s doing.
BILLY MAYS HERE
October 17th, 2012
5:58 pm
Contractor
October 17th, 2012
5:50 pm
Who cares? If they want to pay $34,000. Year for an irrelevant college that’s not giving them good job prospects after school, let them do what they want.
More very obvious projection.
BILLY MAYS HERE
October 17th, 2012
6:00 pm
Jenna K
October 17th, 2012
5:56 pm
My recollection of student government in college is that nobody paid them any attention.
Fair point, lol.
Jolly
October 17th, 2012
6:01 pm
How about banning ‘em because their chicken sandwich has more calories than a Snickers® bar (440 in the sandwich vs 271 in the candybar). More fat grams, too.
Jim Kramer
October 17th, 2012
6:03 pm
Yeah, same as he said.
JR
October 17th, 2012
6:04 pm
“How about banning ‘em because their chicken sandwich has more calories than a Snickers® bar (440 in the sandwich vs 271 in the candybar). More fat grams, too.”
How about letting me decide what’s best for me to eat. If you want to eat a Snickers bar for lunch, more power to you. But I prefer something a little more nutritious.
GibbinRTakin
October 17th, 2012
6:05 pm
Free speech and diverse beliefs are obviously not part of Elon
BILLY MAYS HERE
October 17th, 2012
6:06 pm
GibbinRTakin
October 17th, 2012
6:05 pm
Free speech and diverse beliefs are obviously not part of Elon
Whose free speech rights have been violated and how?
JR
October 17th, 2012
6:10 pm
“Whose free speech rights have been violated and how?”
How about the students who disagree with the ban? They would be forced to accept a positon they don’t agree with.
BitterEXdemocrackkk
October 17th, 2012
6:14 pm
As a conservative ELON Alum, this is rather disturbing…its looking less likely that ELON will be included in my will as they had hoped…
BILLY MAYS HERE
October 17th, 2012
6:14 pm
JR
October 17th, 2012
6:10 pm
“Whose free speech rights have been violated and how?”
How about the students who disagree with the ban? They would be forced to accept a positon they don’t agree with.
No. The SGA cannot force anyone to think like them, even if such a technology existed. You are truly in a world of your own, space cadet.
BILLY MAYS HERE
October 17th, 2012
6:15 pm
BitterEXdemocrackkk
October 17th, 2012
6:14 pm
As a conservative ELON Alum, this is rather disturbing…its looking less likely that ELON will be included in my will as they had hoped…
Dude yuo’re not an Elon alum you’re just being passive aggressive.
BitterEXdemocrackkk
October 17th, 2012
6:17 pm
We never considered ELON to be for the wealthy, but it is quite the little Southern ivy league university…absolutely beautiful campus and only 40 miles to Cheater Hill NC (Chapel Hill)
Elon Grad
October 17th, 2012
6:21 pm
“@ Elon Grad. Leave Ga Southern out of this. Just because our superior football team beat you a couple of weeks ago gives you no right to bring them into this discussion. In fact, the last time I looked they still had Chick-fil-a on their campus and it does a booming business.”
Thank you for making my point. Because the number one thing employers want in their potential employees is for their university to have a good football team. Congrats on the (meaningless) win, though, and your continued assent up the corporate ladder as a result of it. I’m happy to have graduated from a university that offers something more than football.
Dum-Bass
October 17th, 2012
6:23 pm
Maybe Georgia Southern should stop playing Elon in sports. They seem to be “bigoted” based on the very definition of the word.
Wilt Chamberlain
October 17th, 2012
6:46 pm
Speaking to you from heaven with a hot babe under each arm (and leg), I detest these liberal wussies. But, I also fear four more years of the current administration. If Obama was president when I was making my rounds, he would have found a way to tax my meandering ways with the women. He’ll do the same with CFA. You watch, within months of his re-election, he’ll propose a tax for any restaurants that serve chicken sandwiches that are closed on Sundays. You wait…
Ken Stallings
October 17th, 2012
6:50 pm
Here is how foolish this vote by the Student Government Senate truly is: prior to the vote the Elon campus newspaper, The Pendulum, conducted a campus-wide survey on the issue. A full 69% of the students surveyed said they support Chick-fil-A and do not wish to see the restaurant forced off campus.
In addition, the headline on this article is wrong. This is not merely a ban, but rather an intention to force the restaurant to close ongoing operations.
Here is the other part not mentioned, Chick-fil-A is contracted by Aramark, not Elon University. Aramark has a food-vending contract with about 92 universities nationwide. This includes Elon. So, despite the vast majority of students wanting the restaurant to stay, this small group of student government leaders decided to vote against the majority and endanger Elon with a tort lawsuit.
The Elon newspaper yesterday published an editorial the condemned the student senate vote, and was very principled in demanding that the core liberty of free commerce and choice be respected, and that campus organizations and businesses not find themselves subject to a political litmus test. Having read the editorial, I was quite proud of the students leading the newspaper, and which that kind of integrity and principle was more present with the student senate!
Baby
October 17th, 2012
6:52 pm
LMAO- That “True Christian” on page one thinks Liberals wrote the Hippocratic oath. Or either he can’t spell hypocrite. Any who… it’s not a “ban.” Editor, go to the dictionary, look up the word “ban,” and hopefully you can find out why your headline is inflammatory and false. I know things are tough at the AJC, but having interns doing the writing really diminishes your credibility. These are just very basic principles that every journalism student should be aware of.
Ken Stallings
October 17th, 2012
6:55 pm
Just want to add that these baseless claims that Dan Cathy contributes to hate groups is a self-serving argument and even if true would not justify the action. Focus on the Family is one of those groups the Cathy’s donate their personal money to, and Focus on the Family is most certainly NOT a hate group.
These groups articulate and advocate for preservation of traditional marriage between a man and a woman, and also advocates that states preserve laws restricting gay couples from adopting children. Even people who disagree with that advocacy would do well to study how children raised by same-sex couples often suffer more psychological problems going through life. The typical reply from gay advocates is that children adopted by gay couples are better off than they are under foster parent care.
Personally, I find that also self-serving and also disrespectful to foster parents, the vast majority of whom love their foster children as they would their biological children. And I think they deserve better than to have their noble actions used as a baseless claim in a political dispute.
Jeff
October 17th, 2012
7:12 pm
Note to Elon students: you are showing your stupidity and letting emotional liberal reactionism guide your actions. Take a step back and be pragmatic.
If a private company chooses to donate money to foundations that SUPPORT tradtional marriage, that doesn’t automatically mean they HATE anyone who supports gay marriage. Furthermore, just because YOU interpret and choose to associate terms like “hate group” and “anti-gay” and “discriminatory” doesn’t mean that is, in fact, the case. Because I and Dan Cathy and many others choose to believe and voice support for the Biblical definition of marriage does not automatically make your stereotypes about us valid, any more than a conservative making stereotypes about liberal sub-groups should be considered valid. What you’re doing is saying that anyone who does not agree with YOUR views of the legitimacy of gay marriage is out of step and therefore not valid and has no right to express their beliefs nor act on them…. is that being tolerant or open-minded like you all claim to be?
Finally, those on the left/progressive/LGBT front often accuse anyone who is a Christian or a conservative of “trying to force your beliefs and value systems on others”…. tell me, if you go around banning companies and private entities that you disagree with and trying to punitively damage them by boycotting (and possibly closing them down) and trying to strip out every last element of Christian morals and beliefs from our society, are YOU not trying to force YOUR beliefs and value systems on the rest of US??? It’s very hypocritical and it does no good in the efforts to have more dialogue and finding common ground between the two sides — all it does is further divide us.
If you don’t like Chick-fil-A, fine, don’t eat there… but any attempt or even a suggestion about boycotts, bans, and forcing them out of schools and communities just because you don’t agree with the beliefs of some people in the company is close-minded, intolerant, short-sighted, hypocritical, mean-spirited and unenlightened. I would expect better from supposedly bright, progressive people.
Bob LaBlah
October 17th, 2012
7:13 pm
To be fair, all of the homo’s will have to be kicked off campus because they are against free speech and expression of one’s opinion.
Baby
October 17th, 2012
7:14 pm
@Ken- No comprehensive study has ever been done on that issue, and you know that. I know several well-adjusted (now adult) children of gay parents, both m and f. Of course that’s simply anecdotal, just like your claim of what every gay person would say to your bogus claim.
It’s not just FOTF, it’s several organizations, that attempt to spread lies/incite hatred not limited to suggesting all gays molest their children, have sex with animals, and that gays should be incarcerated. Is that really what we want our law enforcement system to be used for?
I know you find this hard to believe and accept, but there are several gay couples in my church, who love their families, work hard, and love the Lord. Are these Americans and Christians less worthy of basic human decency, simply because you do not agree with their lifestyle? Can the point that you disagree with their lifestyle not be made without such egregious accusations? I know I won’t change your mind, but you do need to understand that you are not judge and jury of anyone.Stop trying to replace God’s judgment with your own, and let him handle it. Now you will have to excuse me, because I am off to church. Have a nice evening.
Elon Faculty
October 17th, 2012
7:15 pm
The faculty members are the one pushing this more than the students are. Here is an example of emails being sent out.
After the faculty meeting on Friday, I felt compelled to write a letter to the Pendulum to express my thinking on the matter. Hopefully, it will appear in the next issue. My apologies to Clyde for some repetition in what follows.
There are three benchmark concepts, missions if you will, that are espoused by every pore of Elon University and they are global thinking, diversity and critical thinking. However, when it comes down to the palpable oppression right within and without our community, it seems that those ideals suffer at the hands of commerce, things as usual and the politics of politeness. I am referring to Chick- fil -A’s presence on this campus and the lack of substantive thinking and research apparent in two editorials in the most recent Pendulum and the unwillingness of the institution, i.e. the administration to take a stance on an issue that concerns basic human rights and inclusiveness.
The Pendulum editorial approaches the issue as ostensibly one of free speech and that Guy Kathy’s over 2 million dollar support of anti- LGBTQ organisations are protected by the First Amendment. Certainly, the American Civil Liberties Union supports that as an admirable position as do I, a long-standing member of the ACLU. Chick- fil -A as an individual entity has the right to espouse and support whatever it wishes.
Their presence here on our campus must be seen as in a different context with different purposes. The context is that of a private institution of higher education that stands for and espouses certain values that are an integral part of a liberal education, meaning learning that at every moment encourages free thinking simultaneously with inclusiveness and consideration of the wellbeing of others. The concept that as thinkers and doers, we must be aware of and reflect on the consequences of our thoughts and subsequent actions. By inviting, and I use this word advisedly, Chick- fil- A on campus, we are tacitly supporting those explicitly discriminatory and oppressive causes with our money and their presence. And this matter does not just end with speech, Kathy’ money supports ‘conversion camps’ that physically and psychologically demean people who are forever scarred by their tactics. Do we really wish to be complicit in such supremest tactics, and by we, I mean faculty, staff, students and administrators? That is tantamount to negating all of those important and ethical concepts mentioned earlier in this letter that we profess every day in our classes, in meetings and as the paramount raison d’etre of the entire institution.
The suppression of human rights are not negotiable, nor are they up for vote by a majority. This is a critical moment when the administration and the entire University must stand in support of what is right, what is human and what is decent.
Ken Hassell
Associate Professor
Art Department
Mentor Periclean Scholars 2014
hassell@elon.edu
336-278-5719
On Oct 8, 2012, at 11:55 AM, “Clyde Ellis” wrote:
Colleagues,
The evidence that Chick-Fil-A has systematically supported anti-gay causes is difficult to ignore. Even a cursory reading reveals that the company’s position is well documented. Less clear is the degree to which the company continues to endorse its earlier positions; and until that’s resolved, the presence of Chick-Fil-A on campus opens the door to a discussion that I believe we should have.
I disagree with Carol Brown that this is an issue of free speech. No one at Elon to my knowledge has suggested that the company does not have the right to express its opinions. But it seems to me that positing this as an assault on “the right to express one’s beliefts [sic] without fear of reprisal” misrepresents the discussion, and neatly ignores the issues that concern those of us who support the petition. At a bare minimum, I would argue that a careful reading of Elon’s mission statement, and of its public pronouncements about an “unprecedented commitment to diversity,” suggest that Chick-Fil-A’s policies to date are openly inconsistent with the university’s often-mentioned values and ideals. Clearly the debate about gay rights is divisive, but the university has unambiguously positioned itself as favoring an inclusive culture. In the wake of Amendment One, for example, the university affirmed its commitment to health care and other benefits that are called into question by some interpretations of that amendment. We might also recall last year’s “Not on our campus” discussion. Whatever else it is, anti-gay activism is deliberately exclusive, and challenges the values that the university supports. This discussion impels us to consider how and with what consequences we will interpret and act on ideas like inclusion and diversity. Why should a morally serious discussion “be given a rest”? On the contrary, we should hear what colleagues on all sides have to say.
I for one don’t know how to square Chick-Fil-A’s positions with the university’s official positions, and so I support the petition. Squaring those positions requires explaining to our students and colleagues, and most trenchantly to our students and colleagues who are LBGQT, how one can support the university’s mission statement and commitment to diversity, while simultaneously standing your ground in favor of a company whose public stance is heretofore flatly contradictory to the university’s implied and expressed ideals. This is not simply about “the right to express one’s beliefs,” and at any rate no one is being deprived of that right. It seems to me that for some who are grappling with the distance between the positions articulated by Elon and Chick-Fil-A, it is about understanding that there is not a moral equivalence between a meaningful policy of inclusion and diversity, and easy, on-campus access to a chicken sandwich.
Best -
Clyde Ellis
——————————–
Clyde Ellis, Ph.D.
Professor of History
Dept. of History & Geography
CB 2143
Elon University
Elon, NC 27244
336.278.6417