The student government at Johns Hopkins University decided Chick-fil-A is not welcome on campus, as its existence would cause “microaggressions” against the gay community.
The College Fix obtained a copy of the Johns Hopkins University Student Government Association’s resolution, “A Resolution Regarding the SGA’s Opinion on Current and Future Chick-Fil-A Development Plans.” The resolution attempts to prevent Chick-fil-A from operating on campus “in a current or future sense.”
The student government stated it “vehemently opposes” Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s opposition to gay marriage.
Because of Cathy’s views, the student government argues, “visiting prospective and current students, staff, faculty, and other visitors who are members of the LGBTQ+ community or are allies would be subjected to the microaggression of supporting current or future Chick-fil-A development plans.”
The resolution suggests that in searching for food vendors on campus, the university should “seek out other similar non-discriminatory alternatives.”
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter reported on the resolution passage debate. Critics of the student government resolution included conservative and libertarian students.
Andrew Guernsey, a junior who spoke on behalf of the Hopkins Catholic community, was prompted to ask the student government at the beginning of the debate, “Are social conservatives still welcome on the Hopkins campus?”
John Kuhn, JHU sophomore and Hopkins Students For Liberty member said, “I generally am opposed to liberal policies, but you don’t see me trying to ban Starbucks or Ben & Jerry’s because their CEOs made liberal remarks.”
“No student group should have that kind of preferential treatment and that unique power to just ban whatever franchise or organization that they don’t agree with. I support everything they stand for. I think people are very afraid to deny them what they want because it’s politically incorrect to say no to the LGBTQ community,” Kuhn stated.
On the student government’s Facebook page, the student government clarified the resolution, citing there was “discomfort with the proposition of a Chick-Fil-A on Hopkins campus, given its history of discrimination toward the LGBTQ community.”
“In response, the SGA wrote ‘A Resolution Regarding the SGA’s Opinion on Current and Future Chick-Fil-A Development Plans’ to encourage the administration to seek alternative chicken vendors before Chick-Fil-A in the best interest of a cohesive campus environment in which all students feel accepted.”
The student government concluded the resolution “does not, in any way, ban Chick-Fil-A from our campus but rather expresses the SGA’s opinion on future developments.”
In the resolution, however, the student government lauded efforts at North Carolina State University and Indiana University to ban the fast food chain from their campuses.
Ultimately, the student government’s resolution passed 18-8.