Chik-fil-a at College of Dupage
Chik-fil-a employee waits for students
Chick fil A took the place of Grill 155 at the College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn Campus in March 2014. Despite some concern and debate about bringing the franchise into the cafeteria, a 4-3 vote for Chick fil A from the board of trustees amended a contract with Sodexo.
Chick fil A has been in the public spotlight for having straightforward religious beliefs. Supporting Anti-Gay Groups such as; Focus on the Family, Exodus International, and Family Research Council, providing them with aid and other types of profit.
College of DuPage serves a diverse population of over 31,000 students every semester, a fact that was overlooked by Sodexo when considering what food service provider they would bring in. Looking at all sides of having Chick fil A at COD was a key component in the final decision.
“We had felt that most of the issues had cleared up.” Lynn Konicek general manager of Sodexo said.
The debate about having Chick fil A on campus or not was all about making sure the student body had some participation in it. The company wanted to make sure that no groups on campus would be offended. In conclusion it came down to a partnership with Chick fil A.
“We really didn’t think that it would offend anyone, basically Sodexo is, the group that’s managing it, and Sodexo is a very diversified company. As a matter of fact, we’ve ranked in the top five, from diversity Inc. So our company itself is very strong in diversity.”
Sodexo as stated in fact did receive one hundred percent rating on the annual Human Rights Corporation Corporate Equality Index.
While considering what company to bring in, Sodexo said they held a number of surveys to find out what the students were looking for. The first survey was conducted over the summer. An online survey was put out to the public of COD asking them what choice of franchise they would like to see.
“One of the main things people were looking for was how the Chik-fil-A express was supposed to help quite a bit with the speed of service.” said Konciek.
Sodexo, aware of the high controversial topic surrounding Chick fil A felt that the company would do well at College of DuPage without any radical moves being made by students opposing.
The board of trustees as well as the college did include some minimum student participation in the decision. Some things weren’t accomplished that were promised by the actual food hiring company of Sodexo though.
Selected participant officers were chosen to represent the student body of COD. These individuals stated and contributed feed back to the company of Sodexo.
Bradley Setter, President of COD’s Pride Alliance, felt that Sodexo did not involve the students enough.
“I do not think that Sodexo listened to the student body when bringing Chick fil A on campus. I being the president of pride alliance along with three of my chosen officers, and some faculty sat down with them and talked about some ideas for them surveying students, that never came out” said Bradley Setter President of the Pride Alliance group at the College of DuPage.
Although Sodexo invested time into making the right decision in bringing in Chick fil not as much effort was made by them to include any student say as supposedly stating.
The collaboration of all parties brought Chick fil A into the cafeteria at College of DuPage but the future remains unknown if it will be a permanent home.
Chick fil A prides their company’s name on being “family friendly”.
“The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender,” said the company CEO Dan Cathy in a statement released in 2012 to the public.
The franchise has spread around the nation to many college campuses causing an overload of fuel to a burning fire of students who do not believe that Chick fil A should serve food in their cafeterias.
Duke University decided not to continue a relationship with Chick fil A after renovations were done in its West Union because they were seeking to promote equality and eliminate discrimination. The community as whole was striving to teach tolerance and acceptance and the brand of Chick fil A did not exactly meet their criteria.
Many petitions have been created by students around many different campuses against Chick fil A. At the University of Illinois about five hundred signatures were obtained by students in support of the cause. The list goes on adding about twenty other schools.
LGBT right groups have also vocally expressed their opposing side to having Chick fil A on many campuses. Rallying and protesting against the franchise.
*info provided by College of Dupage website
Posted on May 7, 2014, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 9 Comments.
benmgreene1 
Interesting story. I might have tried to get more student voices, and moved Setter’s quotes higher up in the story. That seemed like the most important part.
Interesting so many people protested, did not expect that many people to be aware of the issue raised by chick fil A. Im glad they are speaking up
Also Im glad to hear to changed the way they donate. Very informative great job
I like the inclusion of the map regarding schools with petitions. Adds a “bigger picture” to the story.
One suggestion I would like to make is to have at least one picture of the COD Chick-fil-A. It would add visual relevancy to this story.
I like the idea of the Google Map featuring the schools who have successfully petitioned against Chick Fil A.. I would have loved to have seen the videos combined into one– the couple of videos made it feel a bit choppy. Reporting wise, I think you guys found good sources to talk to!
Strong interview. The subject spoke slowly and clearly. Good choice. I liked how the map showed how many schools were offended.
I enjoyed the interview.
He was definitely vocal about his opinion and gave great information.
Too bad we, as students, don’t participate with school surveys.
…..but then again, I never heard about it or any surveys for our school……..
I also think that there should have been some more perspective from random students. I personally would have said “I support chik-fil-a” and I feel like there was more opposition than support in this report. Other than that I really think this was informative and I’m glad you chose this topic.
I never knew that chick-fil-a had that many controversy. The map of the schools really help as well. I would like the see the prospective of COD students as well.