Vandal Dining plans donations to LGBTQA community as Chick-fil-A opens on campus
After finding out Chick-fil-A would be coming to the Idaho Commons food court, University of Idaho student Samantha Hansen took to Facebook.
“I wanted to let people know my outrage,” said Hansen, who serves as the outgoing co-chair of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance at UI.
More than three years after Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A chairman, president and CEO, made statements discussing his opposition to same-sex marriage, the Georgia-based fast food company continues to stir strong emotions within the LGBTQA community.
“Chick-fil-A”s main office and administration have had a history of advocating for causes that work against the LGBTQA community,” said Julia Keleher, director of the UI LGBTQA office. “So people were upset about them coming.”
After discussions with the LGBTQA office and the office of Human Rights, Access and Inclusion this summer, Keleher said Vandal Dining volunteered to provide food for six monthly dinners hosted by the LGBTQA office.
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Chick-fil-A opened in the Idaho Commons on the first day of fall term, Aug. 24, offering chicken sandwiches, waffle fries and lemonade as part of a limited menu.
She said Vandal Dining also intends to donate to the LGBTQA Emergency Scholarship. The scholarship fund is a need-based scholarship that helps LGBTQA students with tuition or living expenses if they have been cut off from their families after coming out, Keleher said.
Keleher said the conversations focused on UI”s commitment to supporting all forms of diversity on campus and making sure all students feel safe.
“So they have been very supportive of the LGBTQA office, and really reiterating their commitment to LGBTQA inclusion at the University of Idaho,” Keleher said of Vandal Dining, which is run by Sodexo.
In a statement, Pat Clelland, general manager of Vandal Dining, said Vandal Dining operates the Chick-fil-A unit on campus and works “under a license agreement that includes upholding brand standards and quality assurance.”
“Sodexo is a strong supporter of organizations such as the LGBTQA office and we want to collaborate proactively, not just when an issue pops up,” Clelland said in the statement. “That is the true spirit behind our discussions.”
As outgoing co-chair of GSA, Hansen said the club decided not to protest Chick-fil-A”s presence on campus for a few reasons. She said the group wanted to focus on more important causes and did not want to damage their relationship with Vandal Dining.
“It seemed like a waste of members” time and energy,” Hansen said.
She said the donations from Vandal Dining also helped to calm emotions in the LGBTQA community.
While the group decided not to protest, Hansen said she is still not OK with Chick-fil-A”s presence on campus and has decided to personally boycott the company. She said seeing Chick-fil-A on campus acts as a constant microaggression for members of the LGBTQA community and will likely not resonate well with new LGBTQA students.
“I don”t think it”s good for recruitment and retention,” Hansen said.
Hansen encouraged other students to be mindful of where they spend their money and said she would not like to see Chick-fil-A on campus after their contract runs out.
While the appearance of Chick-fil-A on campus is unsettling for some, Erin Agidius, interim director of the office of Human Rights, Access and Inclusion, said she thinks the conversations demonstrated the university”s commitment to progress and diversity.
Agidius said all contractors must apply to UI policy that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
“Anybody that we contract with is upheld to those same standards,” Agidius said.
While Keleher”s not sure if a Chick-fil-A on campus will be OK with students, she said the support from Vandal Dining sends a message that the restaurant”s presence on campus should not a problem for LGBTQA inclusivity.
She said because of the large national conversation that happened a few years ago, the university needed to address Chick-fil-A”s new spot on campus.
“When it comes to social issues and inclusion issues, a lot of this stuff, the memory sometimes doesn”t go away very fast,” Keleher said.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ryantarinelli