CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and ally college students, has joined with the Outsports.com today in calling for immediate action to end the Chick-fil-A Bowl and Kickoff Games as well as involvement by NCAA, ACC, SEC and ESPN and the participating colleges - University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, Auburn University, Boston College, Clemson University, Duke University, University of Florida, Florida State, University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, University of Kentucky, Louisiana State, University of Maryland, University of Miami, Mississippi State, University of Missouri, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh University, University of South Carolina, Syracuse University, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest University.

Campus Pride supports these specific actions:

• Atlanta Chamber of Commerce should remove the Chick-fil-A name from the Bowl and the Kickoff Games.
• Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) should end their relationship with the Bowl game.
• Participating schools involved with the Bowl game should withdraw from this year’s Kickoff Games.
• ESPN should not broadcast the Chick-fil-A Bowl and Kickoff Games.
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) should stop all monetary support of the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
• Bowl Championship Series (BCS) commissioners and presidents should not even accept a bid from the Chick-fil-A Bowl to host the impending college football playoff games starting in 2014.

Campus Pride issued this statement today:

On Friday, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) reached out to officials at Vanderbilt University after a University of Kentucky sports blog brought attention to anti-gay T-shirts allegedly being sold by Vanderbilt students.

The T-shirts, which said "UK2Gay" in reference to Kentucky's 2,000 basketball game victories, were on sale at CafePress.com. The storefront has since been taken down.

University officials have said the T-shirts were an apparent hoax and, according to GLAAD, there was no "evidence of a broad campaign among students to wear these shirts to Saturday's game."

Campus Pride commends GLAAD for their quick action in reaching out to Vanderbilt officials on Friday.

We also commend Vanderbilt for their quick response, as we know the school to be among some of our most LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. Campus Pride has a long relationship with Vanderbilt University, where we have hosted past Camp Pride Summer LGBT and Ally Leadership Programs. We will host Camp Pride there again this year in July.

Vanderbilt has also participated in our LGBT-Friendly College Fairs and volunteered to take our free assessment, the Campus Pride Index, on LGBT campus inclusion and safety. According to the assessment, Vanderbilt received four out of five stars for their work in LGBT Policy Inclusion (4.5/5), LGBT Support & Institutional Commitment (5/5), LGBT Academic Life (4.5/5), LGBT Student Life (5/5), LGBT Housing & Residence Life (3/5), LGBT Campus Safety (1/5), LGBT Counseling & Health (5/5) and LGBT Recruitment and Retention Efforts (4.5/5).