- The Washington Times - Friday, August 30, 2019

Kansas University’s Sexuality & Gender Diversity Faculty and Staff Council is livid with the expansion of Chick-fil-A on campus and calling for Jayhawks to boycott the eatery.

The popular fast-food chain is in the crosshairs of yet another college group due in large part to Dan Cathy, the company’s president and CEO, supporting the traditional definition of marriage in 2012.

At issue with the council is a “Chick-fil-A Coin Toss” at the start of football games and the university’s decision to move the restaurant to high-traffic part of the campus.

“KU granted Chick-fil-A, a bastion of bigotry, a prime retail location in the heart of our campus,” KU’s Sexuality & Gender Diversity Faculty and Staff Council said in a letter sent this week to Chancellor Doug Girod, the provost’s office and the athletic department, the Kansas City Star reported Thursday.

“Moving Chick-fil-A to the Union and granting it a role at the start of all home football games violates the feelings of safety and inclusion that so many of us have striven to create, foster, and protect on campus, and sends a message that the Union, KU Athletics, and the administration at large are more concerned about money and corporate sponsorship than the physical, emotional, and mental well being of marginalized and LGBTQ people,” he continued.

The underlying sentiments echo those of faculty at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in May.

“We don’t sell pornography in the bookstore and we don’t have a Hooters on campus — we already pre-select those kinds of things based on our existing values,” Academic Senate Vice Chair Thomas Gutierrez told a campus publication three months ago.

Thirty-eight of 44 members voted in favor of ending the restaurant’s presence at the California school, although a campus spokesman said the restaurant’s presence was secured by a five-year contract extension signed in 2018.

Chick-fil-A signed a ten-year contract extension with KU in 2014.

“[Our efforts are] falling on deaf ears,” KU associate professor Katie Batza told the Star.

Chick-fil-A did not respond to the Star’s request for comment prior to publication. 

• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.

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