On-campus Chick-fil-a not affected by recent anti-gay issue

Kelsey Elam

Despite recent speculation whether Chick-fil-A will continue to donate to anti-gay organizations or not, the Georgia Southern University Chick-fil-A does not provide the company with any profits to fund organization

Any profits made at the Chick-fil-A on campus goes back to the university, not corporate Chick-fil-A, Michael Murphy, marketing coordinator for Eagle Dining Services, said

“All of the restaurants on campus are a part of Eagle Dining Services, and the revenue they make goes back to the school,” Murphy said. “Their revenue is what help pays for projects, such as Lakeside and Landrum.”

The Chick-fil-A on campus has not felt any financial problems because of the recent media hype surrounding corporate Chick-fil-A, Murphy said

“Our Chick-fil-A is one of the highest grossing Chick-fil-A’s in the country, and they won the highest sales of a collegiate Chick-fil-A in 2011,” Murphy said.

Chick-fil-A Corporate declined to comment.

“There are people in Dining Services that are gay or lesbian or transsexual, and they already know that we support them in any way,” Murphy said. “We try to be as much of an equal opportunity employer as possible.”

“There continues to be erroneous implications in the media that Chick-fil-A changed our practices and priorities in order to obtain permission for a new restaurant in Chicago. This is incorrect,” Cathy said in a statement to Mike Huckabee, the former Republican presidential candidate, in an article by CNN.

Chick-fil-A, which landed in the middle of the gay marriage debate this summer, released an official press release in response to public inquiries on Sept. 15.

The document stated Chick-fil-A’s goal “is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.

“We are a restaurant company focused on food, service and hospitality; our intent is not to engage in political or social debates,” according to the document.

Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to “anti-gay” organizations over the past few years, such as Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage who support same-sex marriage, according to The Civil Rights Agenda’s news release.

Since the university owns Chick-fil-A, all student employees must follow university policies, which includes zero tolerance for discrimination, Director of Marketing and Communications Christian Flathman said.

“I don’t think the university has seen any complaints or registered any kind of discrimination at our Chick-fil-A, but we do encourage anyone to report any kind of discrimination on campus,” Flathman said.

Murphy and Flathman said it is business as usual for the Chick-fil-A on campus.

The Civil Rights Agenda could not be reached for comment.