Ball State spokesperson Tony Proudfoot said Chick-fil-A's donations are a matter of free speech, but Counseling Center psychologist Jay Zimmerman doesn't see it the same way.
"The decision in its clearest form right now is that exercising First Amendment rights is insufficient grounds for terminating the contract," Proudfoot said. "And, at the same time, we emphasize that students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to carefully consider their purchasing decisions and ensure that they're supporting businesses that are consistent with their beliefs."
The controversy started when Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy stated he and his family are against same-sex marriage.
Alumnus Fernando Rubio has started a petition to try to have the Chick-fil-A restaurant located in the Atrium removed. A Daily News editor is involved in this petition but did not contribute to this article.
In a previous Daily News article, Proudfoot said "we all vote with our wallets" and that students should express their position on the issue by choosing whether or not to buy Chick-fil-A products.
In response to this statement, Zimmerman sent out an email to the members of Safezone, a voluntary network of allies of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. According to a Counseling and Health Center document, the group believes everyone at Ball State should have an opportunity to learn in a safe and open environment.
In the email, Zimmerman expressed to Proudfoot his stance on the Chick-fil-A issue. Zimmerman said he hopes the email will lead to an open conversation about the issue at hand.
One of Zimmerman's main arguments is that the controversy is not an issue of free speech, but of civil rights.
Proudfoot said the restaurant has not received any complaints "of discriminatory actions with regard to hiring, management, willingness to serve all customers equally or any other business practice."
If such a complaint should arise, the university would respond.
Employees who work for the Chick-fil-A in the Atrium are Ball State employees and are therefore subject of Ball State employment and personnel policies, Proudfoot added.
"The Chick-fil-A culture and 66-year-old service tradition in our restaurant is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect - regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender," Chick-fil-A said in a press release on its website following Mike Huckabee's Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on Aug. 1.
While Zimmerman recognizes that Chick-fil-A does not discriminate when it comes to hiring employees or serving customers, he said the bigger issue is the organizations to which the restaurant donates funds.
Chick-fil-A has donated to several organizations that many view as anti-gay, including Exodus International, according to the 2010 Form 990 of Winshape, the restaurant's charity arm.
According to its website, Exodus International is an organization established in 1976 that promotes itself as a "worldwide ministry to those struggling with same-sex attraction seeking to live a life that reflects the Christian faith."
"It's for those reasons that I really strongly feel that they shouldn't be on a campus where there's a significant number of students and faculty and staff who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender," Zimmerman said. "And it creates a chilly atmosphere knowing ... that the university is allowing a corporation to have a very special place on campus in terms of selling its goods when every bite from that chicken goes to fund these kinds of groups."
Proudfoot said Chick-fil-A's opinions are in no way related to the university and its earned monies are not controlled by the university.
"While the university is strongly committed to diversity, it's limited in the extent to which they can or should force an external organization to adopt its values," Proudfoot said.
Jonathan Becker, an assistant professor of theatre, is working with Zimmerman to communicate their concerns with the administration.
"Tony Proudfoot's suggestion that we vote with our wallets, I find [it] personally offensive and it saddens me a great deal that we would consider this something that is more about commerce than it is about civil rights," Becker said.
Because of Cathy's comments, Chick-fil-A's restaurants have now become an anti-gay symbol and therefore provide for an unwelcoming environment for the LGBTQ community, Zimmerman and Becker said.
Becker added, though, that this is not what Ball State intends to do.
As a staff member for six years, Becker said he knows the university does not hope to create an unsafe environment for its faculty or students.
"It's incredibly difficult for people who have never been the victim of intolerance, discrimination, of hatred and of the resulting violence to understand at any level what it is like to get up in the morning and be hated for simply existing," Becker said. "That's what this discussion really needs to be about. It's not about voting with our wallets. It's about doing what is right."
Proudfoot said he understands why Chick-fil-A has now become uncomfortable for the LGBTQ community, but he points out that the university is committed to diversity.
In addition to having groups like Safezone and Spectrum, the university extends benefits to same-sex domestic partners of benefits-eligible employees. The Counseling Center is expressly supportive of the LGBTQ community through its education, programming and outreach, and sexual orientation is included in the university's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action policy.
Zimmerman said he has written letters to several members of the administration, including President Jo Ann Gora. Zimmerman added he hopes a conversation about the issue will take place before the restaurant's contract is renewed.
"I think there's a number of people approaching administrators from a variety of different perspectives," Zimmerman said. "And what we're hoping to do is have a conversation where they will reconsider having Chick-fil-A on campus."
Jon Lewis, director of Dining, said Ball State owns Chick-fil-A's franchise and that its contract is automatically renewed every year unless either party decides otherwise.
"I remain very hopeful that the folks who are in a position to make decisions will make the right one," Becker said. "My experience with the administrators and the university has been that they work very hard to make sure that Ball State is an excellent place to be. And right now, they're trying to find a way to make this decision so that it reads well for everybody."
Proudfoot said the university has not come to its decision lightly. He added the university is listening and that all of the emails the administration has received have been insightful and informative in the decision-making process.
As with any other vendor, if Chick-fil-A experiences a significant decrease in sales that is insufficient to sustain the restaurant, the university will reevaluate the contract at the time of renewal.
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