Students at Indiana University believe the fast food company showed hate and discrimination towards the LGBT community.

Julie Klose of PolitiChicks with the story.

Indiana University Students Vote NO Against “Hateful” Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A’s slogan is “Eat Mor Chickin” but students at Indiana University (Bloomington campus) voted “no” to more chicken based on concerns over the company’s views on same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues.

The Chick-fil-A franchise at the Wells Library location was previously under contract with Sodexo, a food management company, but the campus recently decided to exercise a clause in the contract allowing the site to be managed by Residential Programs and Services. With RPS in talks with Chick-fil-A in continuing service at the location, RPS Executive Director, Patrick Conner, reached out to students of the Residence Hall Association for their input.

The student representatives of RHA voted 18-9 to cut ties with Chick-fil-A, partially based on the question of whether the company’s views on LGBT issues would be “congruent” with supporting the LGBT community on campus at IU. The Residence Hall Association also voted unanimously in that same meeting to support the Spectrum thematic community. This proposal is to establish a residence hall floor for gender blind housing for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and those in support of such a community.

Student representative Andrew Ireland, who voted to keep Chick-fil-A, said he understood why some students would be in support of this decision and they are welcome to their opinion but “to simply silence one side to prop up another is not building an inclusive community; it’s building a community as you would like to see it.”

The focus of RHA is about the LGBT community and despite the fact that Chick-fil-A has never made a public statement or has ever discriminated against the LGBT community, student representatives voted no based on social and political implications. Maintaining ties with Chick-fil-A would be incongruent with the work they have done to build an “inclusive” community.