Additional Results
Undergraduate Student Responses - 283
Do you personally choose to eat at Chick-fil-A? Yes: 64.7 % - 183 No: 35.3 % - 100
Do you support the removal of Chick-fil-A from campus? Yes: 29.1% - 82 No: 62.8% - 177 Unsure: 8.2% - 23
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Featured responses
"Elon should be an exclusive learning environment for everyone here regardless of their sexual/gender orientation."
"I don't feel threatened by its presence on campus, but I understand that others are."
"A valid argument presented by both sides."
"Elon is a university that promotes the inclusion and acceptance of all people. Why should we continue to house a corporation that makes it very clear that they support discrimination towards certain people?"
"If Spectrum truly believes they are in the right here they should work to educate students and work to change the minds of students so that Chick-fil-a is forced off campus because of lack of sales, not because a few students try and force their views on the whole student body."
"You won't buy chicken because it has an imposing beliefs. You don't think imposing beliefs are fair. Isn't that an imposing belief? EAT MOR CHICKN"
"I don't support Chick-fil-A because they support the oppression of people. I see no difference between supporting them or supporting a restaurant that refused service to African Americans during the civil rights movement."
"I am against any form of discrimination but as long as Chick-fil-A stops supporting hate groups then I am completely fine with them being on our campus and eating it.' "Chick-fil-A funds anti LGBTQ groups which Elon works hard to make feel comfortable on campus. Keeping Chick-fil-A sends mixed messages. Also there are far better dining options instead of Chick-fil-A."
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Alumni Responses - 80
Do you personally choose to eat at Chick-fil-A? Yes: 72.5 % - 58 No: 27.5 % - 22
Do you support the removal of Chick-fil-A from campus? Yes: 20% - 16 No: 75% - 60 Unsure: 5% - 4
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Featured responses
"I don't require companies to hold the same moral standards as I do personally."
"Chick-fil-A is a racist, homophobic, female hating business."
"Though I disagree with their stance on gay marriage, they are a privately owned and operated company with the right to express their opinions as long as they are not discriminatory in their hiring and promotion practices."
"Great food greater message."
"Chic-fil-A supports documented hate groups. I understand that many of the items we use each day have been created by means of some type of slavery or hate, but to ignore this problem when it can be so easily removed from campus is wrong."
"If you don't agree with the statements of one individual from an organization, who doesn't necessarily represent all of the positions of that said company, then you don't have to shop/buy/endorse/eat/use that said company's product. While I don't support everything about Chick-fil-A, I do support many of the company's focus areas (e.g. work-life balance given to employees and being closed on Sundays, philanthropic giving it does for communities, entrepreneurial support it reflects in developing franchisees, etc.). I believe they have a lot to offer the Elon Community. I also love their chicken biscuits and to deny students that pleasure is simply wrong."
"Elon University has a strong policy against discrimination and allowing an organization that directly promotes (by donating millions) hate groups is completely unacceptable. Replace Chick-fil-A with Wendy's a great company that Elon actually has strong ties to. I am glad that this conversation is happening. To address the argument that I have been hearing from some current students comparing Chick-fil-A to clothing companies that employ children, pay little or having unsafe working conditions. Using bad business practices in a foreign country and donating millions to hate groups is slightly different but I think that they make a good point. Elon should also be working toward trying to replace the clothing made in the campus store with American made but let's not confuse these two issues. Solving the Chick-fil-A problem is much easier and it also has a direct impact on the emotional and mental well being of current students."
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Faculty and Staff Responses - 29
Do you personally choose to eat at Chick-fil-A? Yes: 34.5% - 10 No: 65.5% - 19
Do you support the removal of Chick-fil-A from campus? Yes: 55.2% - 16 No: 37.9% - 11 Unsure: 6.9% - 2
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Featured responses
"This Univeristy is all about freedom of expression. To exclude someone from free enterprise because of their views is exactly what you say you are against. If you support booting them you are a hypocrite."
"I disagree with the university's money going to an organization that is funding discrimination and hate against members of the university community."
"They do not discriminate in who they serve. They have every right to stand on their moral beliefs. I would not request the removal of a LGBTQ business from campus because of their views."
"I choose not to eat Chick Fil A, but do not feel I can make that choice for others. I feel badly that this company that is highly visible on our campus is perceived as hurtful to community members who are not afforded equal rights in this state. For that reason, I wouldn't mind seeing them go. That said, there are many people on campus who feel validated by Chick fIl A's statements and would feel less valued if we removed them as a campus vendor. There's no way to please everyone in this situation and the issue is complex."
"As an institution with many LGBTQIA students I think we owe it to our students to create an environment of inclusiveness, and actively supporting a company which in turn actively supports hate groups against these students seems hypocritical to me. During this construction project it also seems like an easy decision to me, as we will need to rebuild another retail location anyways, so funding should not be an issue, and I am sure there are plenty of other restaurants who would jump at the opportunity to have a presence on campus."
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