In a letter to the leadership at the University of Kansas, the Sexuality and Gender Diversity Faculty Staff Council said they were outraged the school had moved Chick-fil-A to a more prominent location on campus and called for a boycott.
The council said the move was unacceptable because of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s views on same-sex marriage, as well as the company’s donations to groups that are allegedly “hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people, families, and communities.”
“While many Christians are supportive of the LGBTQ community and many are members themselves, the culture of Chick-fil-A fosters hate and discrimination on multiple levels. In short, Chick-Fil-A on KU’s campus stands in direct contrast to the university’s mission of fostering a multicultural, inclusive environment,” the staff said.
Saying they understand the school has to honor the contracts they have with the restaurant, “we are outraged that they have been allowed to move from the Wescoe Underground to a new, bigger, more central location on the University of Kansas campus. Despite our denouncements and the university’s own moves to increase the campus’s diversity, equity, and inclusion, KU granted Chick-fil-A, a bastion of bigotry, a prime retail location in the heart of our campus.
In addition to calling for the university not to renew their contracts with Chick-fil-A, the group wants students not to buy food at the location on campus.
“In the meantime, we will urge our members and allies to speak with our dollars as well as our words, and boycott the restaurant. We look forward to educating the larger KU community about Chick-fil-A and working with KU to find a replacement vendor that better reflects our KU values.”
