From the Emory Wheel:
Chick-fil-A is being replaced in Cox Hall, Emory officials say, due to the chicken sandwich’s lack of popularity on campus. At the end of last semester, the University gave Food Advisory Committee Emory (FACE) the ability to replace anything in Cox Hall during the spring through a process involving student feedback. FACE used surveys to help them pinpoint what, exactly, students would like to see in the Cox Hall food court. Ultimately, FACE, Food Service Administration (FSA) and Campus Life officials stressed that the elimination of Chick-fil-A was not politically motivated but was simply the result of student feedback, which indicated that students do not enjoy the food Chick-fil-A serves.
The Emory Wheel points to all the controversy surrounding Chick-fil-A and how students organized and boycotted and protested it being on campus. But, still, the school administration stressed that all of this had nothing to do with Chick-fil-A no longer being welcome on campus.
And more from the student paper:
While the University has said Chick-fil-A’s removal was not the direct result of the LGBT opposition, we at the Wheel applaud FACE for its ability to reevaluate Cox Hall through student input and cater to the “tastes” of students. Regardless of the University’s reasoning, we also find it important to acknowledge the LGBT community’s efforts throughout the past year, as we detailed in a staff editorial and news story last semester.
Some individuals on campus are saying they believe the decision was probably politically motivated ― an idea that the University has repeatedly denied. Regardless of whether or not this was a politically charged decision, we are glad that Chick-fil-A will no longer exist on campus given its history.
Regardless, the end goal of all groups who wanted Chick-Fil-A kicked off campus was met. Whether students were purchasing food from Chick-Fil-A less frequently because they really truly did not enjoy the food or because of the political controversy surrounding it is, at the end of the day, not as important as Chick-fil-A’s removal itself. The distinction is irrelevant given the fact that Chick-fil-A will be gone appeases both of these groups of people. Low interest is low interest.
I’m just going to go ahead and put it out there that I think politics did play a role and I think the students who organized should be commended for their work. It takes people standing up against those who do wrong ― from wars to infringing on women’s rights to racism to a friggin’ anti-gay restaurant on your college campus. A campus is where students learn how to go out into the world to bigger and better things. Good on them.
I hope they keep fighting against the tyranny of evil, whether it comes in a super size meal deal or when a Georgia lawmaker refuses in 2013 to honor a gay band because, well, it’s gay.
Read the entire Emory Wheel editorial by clicking here.
Illustration by Mike Ritter for GA Voice