The below statement was released to the media this afternoon from Chick-fil-A along with the "Who We Are" document on the Chick-fil-A website, click here.

Campus Pride suspended our "5 Simple Facts about Chick-fil-A" national college campaign on Wednesday morning due to our ongoing conversations with Chick-fil-A to find "common ground." Campus Pride is hopeful of future dialogue that will lead to public actions moving forward centered around Chick-fil-A's values for "respect, dignity for all." Campus Pride encourages everyone, including our college student leaders, to be patient, continue educating others on how this issue affects you, and always model civility in your actions. As indicated by this memo, Chick-fil-A has not made any public changes in their statements about funding or policy changes despite the claims by Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno. This issue is not about a political "win" for Campus Pride. Instead, it is about role modeling how to work together across differences and we remain hopeful, and vigilant -- and cautious in our discussions. Campus Pride is suspending the national campaign to continue the dialogue with Chick-fil-A and may re-activiate it at any time we feel necessary.

Please read Campus Pride's statement on our decision to suspend our national college campaign and the recent Huffing Post article explaining our decision titled "Playing Chicken: What if..." by our Executive Director Shane Windmeyer.

Chick-fil-A, Inc. – Who We Are

*Reprinted with permission from Huffington Post Gay Voices.

What if Chick-fil-A believes in dignity and respect for all -- including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people?

What if WinShape, Chick-fil-A's foundation, ceases donations to anti-gay groups?

What if Chick-fil-A adds sexual orientation to its company anti-discrimination statement for its employees?

The fact is that Chick-fil-A has not commented on any of these "what if" statements or shared anything to substantiate the claims by Chicago Alderman Proco Joe Moreno and the Illinois-based Civil Rights Agenda. The only action that Chick-fil-A has taken in recent weeks was to have private conversations in an effort to find "common ground," and to reiterate the company's stance through an internal Chick-fil-A memo.

I know this because Campus Pride has had several conversations and two in-person meetings with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy and company leadership since early August. After another private meeting with Chick-fil-A on Monday in its Atlanta-based national headquarters, Campus Pride chose to suspend its "5 Simple Facts About Chick-fil-A," a nationwide college campaign. The decision to suspend the campaign was a result of these ongoing meetings and hopeful dialogue suggesting that Chick-fil-A would uphold its values of "respect and dignity for all."

Alderman Moreno and the Civil Rights Agenda chose to claim a "win" by issuing a press release on Wednesday announcing that Chick-fil-A had stopped funding anti-gay groups and that the company had added "sexual orientation" to the its anti-discrimination clause. This claim was based on an internal Chick-fil-A memo and supposed conversations between Chick-fil-A and the alderman.

Campus Pride, the leading national organization for LGBT and ally college students and campus groups, suspended at 8 a.m. this morning its national campaign "5 Simple Facts about Chick-fil-A." Executive Director Shane Windmeyer and other campus representatives from Campus Pride met with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A leadership to find "common ground" in August.

"Campus Pride is pleased with our meetings and discussions with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A executives about the future direction of the Chick-fil-A in upholding their values of "dignity and respect for all." Campus Pride's work on this issue will continue but we are suspending the "5 Simple Facts about Chick-fil-A" campus campaign," said Windmeyer. "At the end of the day, this is not about politics for Campus Pride, this is about dignity, respect and the campus safety of all students at colleges and universities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students."

Lackluster response in early August elicits concerns from Emory's LGBT community

Chick-fil-A continues to be a hot topic on campuses across the country, including Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia - the hometown of Chick-fil-A. Emory is widely known to be one of the most LGBT-friendly campuses in the Southeast, earning five out of five stars on the Campus Pride Index. However, campus officials' response to concerns over Chick-fil-A have been less than impressive.

In early August, Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Dr. Ajay Nair released the following statement: "Emory University has a long history of creating access, inclusion, and equity for Emory’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer students, faculty, staff and alumni. Recent public statements by Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, do not reflect Emory’s values as an institution. Nevertheless, freedom of expression and an open exchange of ideas are also central tenets of the Emory community. Emory therefore respects the right of people to express their disagreement with Mr. Cathy by not patronizing Chick-fil-A."

What Dr. Nair and the Emory University administration fail to acknowledge, however, is that Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBT hate groups that advocate for the death, criminalization, and deportation of LGBT people. The issue goes far beyond free speech or gay marriage; the university is doing business with a corporation that actively seeks to harm a protected minority on campus. Funding hate groups does not reflect Emory's values as an institution. Campus Pride urges campus officials to reconsider their relationship with Chick-fil-A if the institution truly values access, inclusion, and equity for the LGBT community on campus.

Read here for more on this story.

Register for a webinar and have a chance to win a free registration ($900+ value) for your college to attend the Camp Pride summer leadership camp in July 2013

Campus Pride's Fall 2012 Webinar features a diverse array of topics and speakers, providing affordable resources for campuses across the country. Join experts in the field to learn and discuss pressing issues for your campus community. Your campus pays one flat $95 fee and you can gather a group of whatever size to participate in the webinar together. Registration includes free web recording so that you can share the webinar with those who may not be able to attend. Email any questions to [email protected].

Chick-fil-A & Your Campus: Understanding the Impact on Safety & Campus Climate


Thursday, September 13, 2012



Moderator: Jess McDonald, Media, Communications & Programs Manager, Campus Pride


Guest Presenter: Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director, Campus Pride


3:00 pm EST/12:00 pm PST (50-75 minutes) – Free!


REGISTER NOW



The subject of Chick-fil-A on campus has long been a topic of debate among students, but recent headlines around this divisive issue have raised more urgent concerns about campus safety and what it means to an LGBT-friendly college or university. Chick-fil-A profits fund document hate groups that aggressively work against LGBT people, advocating for their criminalization, psychological abuse, and death. The purpose of these hate groups directly contradicts the idea of creating a safe space for students to learn in higher education, and Chick-fil-A products on college campuses have quickly become a symbol of “unsafe zones” on campus. Join us for this webinar to discuss strategies for educating your campus community, advocating on behalf of LGBT students, and taking action to challenge Chick-fil-A’s presence on your campus. We will also discuss larger concerns about vendor accountability on campuses, recognizing that this issue is larger than Chick-fil-A and relates to all corporations with whom institutions have relationships.

Participants will:
• Explore the policies and practices of Chick-fil-A and their impacts on LGBT people.
• Discuss techniques for educating students, faculty, staff, and administrators on your campus about these issues.
• Brainstorm advocacy tools and campus actions to increase awareness of these policies.


Guest Presenter Biography:



Shane L. Windmeyer, M.S., Ed., is a leading author on gay campus issues, national leader in gay and lesbian civil rights and a champion for LGBT issues on college campuses. He is cofounder and executive director of Campus Pride, the only national organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students. Released Fall 2006 by Alyson Books, Windmeyer is the author of The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students, the first-ever college guide profiling the “100 Best LGBT-Friendly Campuses.” He is also the editor of Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities and co-editor of the books Inspiration for LGBT Students & Allies, Out on Fraternity Row: Personal Accounts of Being Gay in a College Fraternity and Secret Sisters: Stories of Being Lesbian & Bisexual in a College Sorority.
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Elon University senior calls on Aramark to cut ties with Chick-fil-A

My name is Benjamin Poole and I am a senior at Elon University. I have had the pleasure of using Aramark’s many food services for the past three years of my time here at Elon, and I am looking forward to fulfilling my fourth year dining using your services. However, I am growing increasingly concerned about the presence of Chick-fil-A in our dining halls. As a student that identifies with the LGBTQIA community, it worries me that Chick-fil-A is still present on my campus.

Chick-fil-A has given millions of dollars to organizations such as the Family Research Council and Exodus International, which both are known as anti-LGBT groups and have spewed lies about the LGBT community. Exodus International itself facilitates conversion therapy which seeks to essentially turn someone who has “same-sex attraction” into a “heterosexual.” There is a long list of reputable organizations that strongly oppose this type of therapy because of the harmful effects it has on its participants, this list includes the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Teachers, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, The Interfaith Alliance, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social Workers, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Education Association, New Ways Ministries, and People for the American Way. I have also had my own struggle with a therapy similar to this, and now every time I see a Chick-fil-A I am reminded of the times I spent in counseling.

Continuing to support Chick-fil-A sends a clear message to the LGBT community; and that message is a message of apathy. Apathetic to the struggles we’ve gone through, apathetic to the lives we lost, and apathetic to the discrimination we still face today. As a company that stands as a leader in diversity, it is imperative that you rethink your relationship with Chick-fil-A and continue to uphold the call of social justice.

Campus Pride petition calls on college sports organizations, campuses, companies, and media to distance themselves from Chick-fil-A

The Chick-fil-A Bowl is an annual NCAA football bowl game that occurs in Atlanta, Georgia in late December. A portion of the profits that Chick-fil-A secures from relationships with college sports organizations, campuses, companies, and media groups as a result of the bowl game are used to fund anti-gay organizations that aggressively work for or support the criminalization, psychological coercion or death of LGBT people. Campus Pride has created a petition on Change.org calling for organizations such as the ACC, SEC, ESPN, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and others to withdraw their support and participation from the Chick-fil-A bowl. Many of the organizations and campuses involved in the bowl game are making efforts to become more LGBT-friendly in other areas, and Campus Pride urges them to uphold this mission in all of their work, including partnerships such as bowl game sponsorships and participation.

You can view and sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/petitions/chick-fil-a-bowl-supporters-ncaa-leagues-campuses-companies-media-stop-funding-hate-groups-and-anti-gay-causes.

Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A president, is in for a shock when thousands of college students go “Back-to-School” this month. His antigay remarks coupled with Chick-fil-A’s near-decade-long secretive funding of documented hate groups and antigay organizations — to the accumulated sum of $5 million — adds fuel to an already burning fire.

As the executive director of Campus Pride, the leading national organization for LGBT students and campus groups, I have heard complaints about Chick-fil-A for years now. The company’s presence and noncompliance with LGBT-inclusive policies on college campuses has been the subject of petitions and protests for as long as I can remember. The truth is finally out, and campuses are starting to take action.

Up until now, the only thing that has allowed Chick-fil-A to survive, in most instances, has been its clever marketing and denial that it was anything but a family-focused, Christian-run business that treats everyone with “dignity and respect.”

The Chick-fil-A controversy has changed all that forever. The company brand has radically redefined itself as a divisive, political symbol. It stands publicly against same-sex marriage and uses its profits to fund groups proudly and aggressively working against the rights of LGBT people, advocating their criminalization, psychological abuse and death. Among the chosen recipients of funds are some of the worst-of-the-worst: Exodus International, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family.

Davidson College, a small private institution in North Carolina, announced yesterday that it will end its relationship with Chick-fil-A in response to a student petition. While there is not a Chick-fil-A restaurant on Davidson's campus, the school had previously ordered food from the restaurant to serve at After Midnight events. While the college has yet to make a final decision regarding their relationship with the vendor, they will be serving alternate options until a final decision is made. "The Davidson College Union Board is firmly committed to building an inclusive community that serves each member of our student body," the leaders of the Union Board explained.

Campus Pride commends Davidson College's swift response to the campus community's petitions and issued the following statement in response to the announcement:

"Chick-fil-A's President Dan Cathy is in for a surprise. College students are not going to tolerate a corporation that donates profits to documented hate groups or anti-gay causes. Davidson College is a perfect example of how colleges will be slowly distancing themselves from the Chick-fil-A brand, even if it will take time. The company is out of touch with the next generation who just wants a good chicken sandwich, hold the hate. The real issue at hand is not freedom of speech, but Chick-fil-A’s secretive funding of documented anti-gay hate groups. There is no justification for such a business operating on our nation’s campuses. Students and administrators alike need to know that revenues going to Chick-fil-A drive funding for groups that are almost certainly in conflict with campus non-discrimination policies and are harmful to creating a safe campus climate for all students."

Davidson College has been in the news as a result of the decision. You can read more at Think Progress and the Huffington Post.

Shane Windmeyer was featured on Pastor Larry Brumenfield's weekly radio show "Black White & Gay in America - The Human Side" on August 6, 2012. The radio show discusses legal, religious, racial, psychological and human experiences of being gay in the United States. See below for further information about Shane and a link to the podcast.

Shane L. Windmeyer, M.S., Ed., is a leading author on gay campus issues, national leader in gay and lesbian civil rights and a champion for LGBT issues on college campuses. He is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Campus Pride, the only national organization for student leaders and campus organizations working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students. Read more about Shane.

Released Fall 2006 by Alyson Books, Windmeyer is the author of The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students, the first-ever college guide profiling the “100 Best LGBT-Friendly Campuses.” He is also the editor of Brotherhood: Gay Life in College Fraternities and co-editor of the books Inspiration for LGBT Students & Allies, Out on Fraternity Row: Personal Accounts of Being Gay in a College Fraternity, and Secret Sisters: Stories of Being Lesbian & Bisexual in a College Sorority.

Windmeyer has been featured on IN THE LIFE TV and his work has been the focus of national attention from MSNBC’s The Situation with Tucker Carlson, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and TIME Magazine.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now.