The University of Notre Dame has announced it will go ahead with plans to put a Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus, despite student and faculty concerns about the organization.
In a May 12 Instagram post, the university’s campus dining division announced it was considering adding a Chick-fil-A to the campus as part of its retail dining master plan.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Notre Dame Campus Dining (@ndcampusdining)
Students responded with a letter to the editor in Notre Dame’s student newspaper on July 1. They said Chick-fil-A’s donations to anti-LGBTQ+ causes and its participation in animal agriculture, as well as its general lack of nutritional value, would make it a poor addition to the campus.
“We hope that this will be the start of a conversation about fulfilling students’ desires while also considering the ethics of what we consume,” the letter reads.
The students followed with an open letter to campus dining from faculty, which had over 150 signatures by Thursday afternoon.
“Bringing Chick-fil-A to campus would run contrary to Notre Dame’s commitment to inclusion and desire to create good in the world,” the letter reads. “We have no plans for such a large-scale disruption; rather, we wish to resolve this concern before it transforms into a larger controversy.”
The letter sparked its own controversy – in a July 14 Twitter thread, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) called student and faculty concerns about the decision “disappointing” and “a dangerous precedent.”
I want everyone in South Carolina and across America to know I have Chick fil-A’s back.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 14, 2021
I hope we don’t have to, but I will go to war for the principles Chick fil-A stands for.
Great food.
Great service.
Great values.
God bless Chick fil-A!
In a statement released Thursday, the university said it was still planning to open a Chick-fil-A on campus early next year.
“Notre Dame has examined the concerns surrounding Chick-fil-A’s charitable giving, discussed them with company representatives, campus partners and students and believes that Chick-fil-A has responded to these issues in a satisfactory manner,” the statement reads.
The statement also says students have “overwhelmingly expressed a desire to have a Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus.”
Contact Gemma atgdicarlo@wvpe.orgor follow her on Twitter at@gemma_dicarlo.
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