Chick-Fil-A May Be Coming to Campus
Process and Timeline
We've received an outline of the rough process and timeline admin is looking at using to make a decision about CFA. Next steps include:
- Conducting a detailed review of Chick-Fil-A against identified and routine selection criteria that includes contractual terms, food variety and appeal, campus feedback, organizational alignment, service timing, quality standards, health and safety, sustainability practices, and data. This includes assessing their alignment with GVSU’s values and the needs of our diverse community.
- Augmentation of student choice results: Recognizing the importance of student voice in this process, the university is reviewing and augmenting the results from initial surveys on student preferences to ensure a wide range of opinions are considered.
- Shortlisting high-interest vendors: Based on preliminary feedback, campus dining has shortlisted Qdoba and Mooyah as potential alternative vendors of high interest to students. The university is considering whether an additional survey is necessary to finalize this list.
- Engagement with alternative vendors: In the university’s commitment to providing diverse and inclusive options, it is reaching out to alternative vendors to assess their interest and review potential venue options within our campus facilities, including Kirkhof and Lower Commons.
- Timely decision making: The university is working diligently to avoid prolonged delays in the opening of new dining options and to minimize any related concerns. The goal is to make and share a final decision by next month, depending on the availability for vendor visits and expressions of interest.
The timeline is rough and depends on scheduling for meeting with other potential vendors, so we are told it may take longer than a month.
Construction Paused
FSA leadership has received word from a member of Senior Leadership Team that construction on the Chick-Fil-A has been halted. Here is an excerpt from that message explaining next steps and what options are being considered:
A small group of VPs met with President Mantella and we collectively shared insights and concerns that we have heard from different sources and talked through several options for a path forward. As a result, we have made the decision to immediately halt construction of the Chick-Fil-A in Kirkhof (barring some work that will need to be done to make it safe to sit there for a while). We plan to go back to the original and intended engagement process with the community, including important and impacted groups and organizations on campus. In addition, we plan to have corporate representatives from Chick-Fil-A on campus to engage and answer questions from the GVSU community. We will engage with all, specifically the LGBT+ FSA, the LGBT Center, the AP committee, the Student Senate, food/dining committee. We believe this engagement process could result in one of three next steps: 1) continuing construction and placement of Chick-Fil-A in Kirkhof or 2) construct a Chick-Fil-A but in another venue on campus (not Kirkoff) or finally, not inviting CFA to GVSU at all and replacing the venue that used to be Subway with some other food option.
It's important, we think, to note that building a Chick-Fil-A is still very much an option that's being considered. So we encourage those with concerns to keep voicing them. We are still co-ordinating with other concerned parties inside and outside the university. As this process of community engagement goes forward, we will advocate for opportunities for membership to voice their concerns directly as much as possible, and let you know when and where those opportunities will be.
What the FSA knows so far about plans to build a Chick-Fil-A on Campus
The following is everything we know about the (confirmed) plans to put a Chick-Fil-A on GVSU campus. At this point, a lot of details are still unclear. We will update this document as we learn more.
Last updated: 4/10/24
Is Chick-Fil-A coming to campus?
You may have heard rumors that there are plans underway to open a Chick-Fil-A on campus. Sadly, this is true. Upon hearing these rumors in the past few weeks, FSA leadership reached out to members of Senior Leadership Team(SLT), who confirmed it. GVSU has apparently already signed a contract with the company.
When? Where?
Because there has been no official announcement, what we know about the details comes entirely from conversations with others, and from some of the site plans for construction we’ve seen, as well as financial documents. It looks like it will be going in Kirkoff, probably replacing Subway. According to the site plans, construction has already commenced, and continues into late August. Opening would therefore be sometime in late August or early September.
Why?
The reasoning most consistently offered is that students have been ranking it highly on surveys related to desired food options. We have requested some of that data, and are linking it below. This data comes from Greg Sanial, Vice President for Finance and Administration, and dates from 2019.
We have a lot of questions about this, the most pressing, we think, is wether or not LGBTQIA students were engaged about this issue in any systematic way.
/cms4/asset/3F070008-E64F-9A34-9B067C555ACD7CB7/copy_of_gvsu_dss_brand_question_f22.xlsx
/cms4/asset/3F070008-E64F-9A34-9B067C555ACD7CB7/dining.survey.results_2019.pptx
Who Made this Decision?
We don't know, and are trying to find out. Certainly, campus dining would have been involved in some capacity. It's unclear to us at this time who in leadership greenlit this, how and wether they engaged with anyone in the community beforehand, and how they square it with university values.
Why is Chick-Fil-A problematic? Didn’t they stop giving to antigay causes?
These are excellent questions. The original brouhaha in 2012 over Chick-Fil-A’s charitable giving centered around their contributions to two large charities with explicit, and public, antigay statements and policies: the Salvation Army, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It is true that Chick-Fil-A no longer contributes to those charities. However, it’s important to look at the context around that change. In 2018, Chick-Fil-A reworked its entire giving program to focus on education, homelessness and hunger. Chick-Fil-A stopped giving to over 80 organizations that did not fit with the new focus-including the two already mentioned. So the change had more to do with large-scale refocusing of their giving program, and less to do with concerns over giving to anti-gay causes. It’s also extremely important to note that Chick-Fil-A has never publicly committed to not working with antigay charities in the future, or made any public statement of policies to that effect. While Chick-Fil-A now has a "commitment to EEO, Non-Harassment, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" that names 'sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression,' there is no evidence that Chick-Fil-A is partnering with or providing donations to organizations that explicitly serve LGBTQ communities or causes.
Finally, there's the corporation's ties to the Cathy Family. CFA makes a big deal about being "family owned," so those ties are very relevant. The current CEO of Chick-Fil-A, Andrew Truett Cathy, is the son of Dan Cathy, who is the CEO who made anti-LGBTQ+ comments in news outlets in 2012. Dan Cathy still sits on the CFA board of directors, and is well-known to give a lot of money to lawmakers and groups that support anti-LGBTQIA+ agendas. In 2021, Dan Cathy gave substantial amounts of money to the National Christian Foundation (NCF) to oppose the equality act. NCF has also been called out for funneling money to hate groups. Check out this 2022 filing for foundations created by the NCF - (From ProPublica), which shows they created 2 foundations (highlighted at the bottom) for the Cathy family. The physical addresses for those foundations matches the address for Chick-Fil-A corporate HQ. So even if CFA can truthfully claim it's not itself giving to antigay causes, it's deeply entangled with very wealthy people who do.
Links:
https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-ties-to-anti-equality-act-efforts-explained-2021-6
https://www.them.us/story/chick-fil-a-owner-bankrolling-hate-groups-targeting-trans-kids
https://www.chick-fil-a.com/about/giving-back
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chick-fil-a-anti-lgbt-donations/
Is it true that campus athletics have been using Chick-Fil-A as a vendor for the past three years?
This is apparently true as well. From conversations we've had with upper administration, the idea was to try out using CFA in athletics as a "litmus test" for potential acceptance on campus, and there were "no complaints" about this.
As far as we know, there was no campus-wide announcement this was happening, so the only way anyone would know is if they went to athletics events. Not all of us engage with athletics, so a lot of people just didn't know. It came as a great surprise to those of us on the steering committee. How can we complain about something we don't know is happening?
With regards to the claim that there were "no complaints" about this, it has been consistently elevated to leadership across campus as problematic and antithetical to efforts to create safer environments both at Athletics events as well as across our campus. Here are three recent contexts in which these concerns were specifically elevated by the LGBTQIA+ community and allies to leadership:
FALL 2021
After GVSU Athletics’ first SEA of Change in August 2021, the Laker Inclusion Team (LIT) began working with Athlete Ally in earnest in September around their Athletics Equality Index. LIT was working on an updated Fan Code of Conduct which explicitly called out homophobic and transphobic language, behavior and signage. The Fan Code of Conduct specifically was based on student-athlete feedback of what they were hearing/experiencing at Athletic events and what they felt would be most helpful in addressing some of the most egregious and frequent behaviors/language. The question re: the misalignment of CFA and what we were trying to do came from student-athlete representatives on LIT. Leadership in Athletics were on the call and responded that CFA was not up for discussion. Ultimately, GVSU Athletics completed the Athletics Equality Index report.
FALL 2022
After the second SEA of Change in August 2022, LIT began a year-out review of how the Fan Code of Conduct was being implemented and operationalized through the ecosystem of athletic events. This review was sparked by what went down at a Duke-BYU volleyball match in August 2022. LIT discussed the event as a case study for GVSU Athletics and set out a multiple-part conversation where different parties were invited into LIT meetings, including facilities, game ops and senior admin in Athletics. Through that process, LIT learned that the Fan Code of Conduct had not yet been integrated into our Fan Guides or guides for opposing teams competing on our campus. LIT recommended that admin connect with coaches directly about the updated Fan Code of Conduct and how to support communication through instances of violations. At a subsequent LIT meeting around this topic, as various staff and admin joined in the conversation, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President addressed the misalignment between having CFA as a vendor at football games and the processes we were shoring up, specifically the message we were trying to send. How could we say we're taking a stand against homophobia and transphobia in our Athletic Department if we were funneling money to an organization that is actively participating in the project to perpetuate both? Again, leadership in Athletics were on the call and responded that CFA was not up for discussion.
FALL 2023
In September 2023, the Division of Inclusion & Equity, Office of the Provost, Human Resources, and the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center hosted a Colloquium Series: Inclusion and Equity Efforts to Elevate Historically Underrepresented Faculty and Staff focused on LGBTQIA+ faculty and staff. The Fall 2023 Colloquium was with Dr. D-L Stewart and included both a learning session for supervisors on campus and an affinity space with LGBTQIA+ faculty and staff as well as an affinity space with queer and trans students in the LGBT Resource Center. The timing of the decision to bring Dr. Stewart to campus was influenced by a variety of significant campus events that directly impacted the LGBTQIA+ community and actively impair efforts to create a culture of educational equity, one of which can be outlined here. Dr. Stewart led the affinity group of LGBTQIA+ staff and faculty through an exercise around identifying and unifying around desired Practices, Policies, Norms and Interactions with Others. “Getting rid of Chick-Fil-A at football games” was identified by this group as a key desired practice by the University, right after “upper admin responds promptly and publicly to homophobic or transphobic incidents on campus.” These Practices, Policies, Norms and Interactions with Others were compiled and captured by leadership within the Division of Inclusion and Equity and partners.
I’m being told the LGBT Center and Inclusion and Equity have “signed off” on the presence of Chick-Fil-A on campus. Is this true?
We have also heard this rumor, and reached out to staff in both areas to confirm it. Our understanding from speaking to folks in both camps is that staff were aware this was being considered, and offered feedback, and that is all. Anyone saying this would seem to be misinformed.
Excerpt of the response we got from Jesse Bernal, VP of I&E in response to our questions:
I&E nor I signed off or endorsed anything. As you know, I&E nor I have any authority over campus dining. I’m concerned that anything other than listening, learning and engaging, the role I have played, may have been communicated.
A statement from DL Mckinney, director of the LGBT Center:
As an advocate of the LGBT Resource Center the power that I hold is as strong as the voices of the LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, and students that I serve. The idea of including Chick-fil-A in Kirkhof has only been presented to me as a concept, one that seemed to give me little decision-making authority. What I continue to beg of us as an institution is that we stand clear and transparent with our decisions and reason our processes. I have yet to see that.
What can we do?
In the short term, the best individual action to take is twofold:
First, share this document with others, and talk about this with your networks, your colleagues, your departments, anyone and everyone who will listen. Because there's been no announcement about this, a lot of people just don't know it's happening. So help us get the word out.
Second, you can file a Campus Climate concern over this issue. Senior leadership does see these, and volume counts for something, so if enough people express concern, that may prompt some kind of reaction.
LGBT FSA leadership is actively working on gathering more information and formulating strategy with other concerned parties, such as the LGBT Center and the AP Social Justice Subcommittee, so that we can present a coordinated response.
Related links
Students quoted in this article had very mixed feelings about the opening of a Chick-Fil-A near campus:
Chick-Fil-A Opens Near Allendale Campus
GVSU cut business ties with Papa Johns after their CEO used a racial slur in a conference call:
Grand Valley to cut business ties with Papa John’s
In 2001, GVSU students participated in a national boycott of Taco Bell because of unfair labor practices (scroll down a bit on the page to see):
Banners are dropping all over Grand Valley State University (Michigan)!
Student Senate asks for amendment to board of trustees policy requiring the university to deal only with vendors who demonstrate nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation:
Facebook post on the topic from Student Senate
