Rider University's dean, Cynthia Newman stepped down last month because of the opposition she faced when she decided not to allow a Chick-Fil-A on campus. The students at Rider overwhelmingly wanted the chain to be built on campus, but former Dean Newman did not want it on campus as she believed it did not match with the ideals of the school.
A few years ago, Fordham faced the same dilemma of whether or not to put a Chick-Fil-A on their Lincoln Center campus. This proposition was opposed by many students. Fordham's Lincoln Center campus tends to have a larger LGBTQ+ population which was a significant factor contributing to this decision.
In the past, Chick-Fil-A's CEO, Dan Cathy has come out as against gay marriage. However, when faced with the news Chick-Fil-A responded saying, "Rider University's survey was recently brought to our attention, and while we respect the University's decision, this news story represents a good opportunity to clarify misperceptions about our brand. Chick-Fil-A is a restaurant company focused on food, service and hospitality, and our restaurants and licensed locations on college campuses welcome everyone. We have no policy of discrimination against any group, and we do not have a political or social agenda. More than 120,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-Fil-A brand." Chick-Fil-A also donated to charities in the past seen as hostile to LGBTQ+ rights.
Chick-Fil-A has made it clear that these views only belong to Cathy and not to the company itself, but the company's charitable donations certainly make this hard to look past. Not surprisingly, many other companies we all regularly support also share these anti-gay views. And these are just the companies who are open about their anti-gay views.
A bad Board of Directors does not make a company entirely evil. Chick-fil-a still has thousands of employees, some of which are even gay, that provide amazing, thoughtful customer service to each person who comes into their restaurant. By supporting Chick-fil-a you are giving each of these good people a place to work.
Being a good person or a good Catholic isn't contingent on what you eat or what you wear. If you want to take the time to research the beliefs of every company you shop from, then go ahead. For me, I don't feel that my morality is contingent on whether or not I eat at Chick-fil-a or shop at Urban Outfitters and I don't think that you should feel that way either. Being a good Catholic is about making the world around you a better place; your identity as a Catholic should not be so fragile that one meal damages that. So go ahead and eat that Chick-fil-a, you'll still be a good person after.
