The University will remove Chick-fil-A from the Cox Hall Food Court this summer.

Food Advisory Committee Emory (FACE) presented three proposed floor plans for Cox Hall at a student feedback meeting on March 7, none of which contained the Chick-fil-A currently present in the building.

Chick-fil-A will be eliminated as a food option in Cox Hall as part of a facelift the food court will undergo during the summer, according to David Furhman, the senior director of Emory’s Food Service Administration.

Controversy regarding the national restaurant chain arose last summer when Chick-fil-A COO and President Dan Cathy publicly stated his opposition to gay marriage.

Since then, members of Emory’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community formed a committee calling for Chick-fil-A’s removal from Cox Hall, and the Student Government Association (SGA) passed a resolution against Chick-fil-A’s presence on campus in December. Students also held a protest last semester.

Furhman said that the ultimate decision to remove Chick-fil-A from all three of the proposed designs for floor plans was based solely on student feedback that his office has received through a series of surveys and focus groups.

The removal of Chick-fil-A was not a politically-motivated move, nor was it spurred by the outcries against it that have taken place on campus, Furhman said.

“What we learned was that there was no great affinity or love for Chick-fil-A,” Furhman said. “It was more of an affinity or love of the convenience, and what students also told us was that they didn’t really love Chick-fil-A.”

However, some members of the LGBT community have claimed that the conditions leading to the fast-food chain’s removal from campus actually differ from what has been publicly stated.

“I think there is a lot more working behind Furhman making that statement,” said College junior Dohyun Ahn, the co-president of Emory Pride.

He said that publicly stating Chick-fil-A was removed due to outcry from the Emory community would have been more reflective of what has actually occurred.

“It wasn’t that students just wanted pizza instead of chicken,” Ahn said. “That wasn’t the real motivation behind [the decision].”

Despite these claims, Furhman wrote in an email to the Wheel: “The decision to examine and retool Cox Hall dining was part of a planned, larger process that began about a year ago – with the objective of providing new menu options and choices – well before any controversy began.”

Furhman said the thoughts, opinions and voices of all members of the Emory Community are considered to help to guide FACE in making such decisions.

Although some students are upset over the public explanation behind the removal, many said they are satisfied with the overall outcome.

“The removal of Chick-fil-A is a defeat for bigotry and a victory for the Emory community,” Andy Ratto, a fourth-year student in the Laney Graduate School and a member of the LGBT committee, wrote in an email to the Wheel. “I hope this inspires students on other campuses who have a problem with Chick-fil-A to push for its removal from their campuses.”

Furhman said Chick-fil-A has existed on Emory’s campus for 29 years.

Given FACE’s commitment to variety, he said, it was time to “shake things up a bit.”

Student feedback was one of six criteria FACE used in determining whether current restaurants in Cox Hall would remain in their respective locations or be removed, according to College sophomore Michael Sacks, a FACE co-chair.

Only those students who attended FACE’s open meetings this semesters were able to complete surveys, said College sophomore Karoline Porcello, a FACE co-chair.

The six criteria included menu variety and flavor profiles, menu quality (for example, “minimally processed and fresh”), brand commitment to sustainability, brand ethos and consistency with Campus Life core values, preferential survey data and business, operational and financial considerations.

Porcello explained that Chick-fil-A did not meet Campus Life and student values.

She also specified that Chick-fil-A’s values were not the deciding factor in the removal of Chick-fil-A from campus, though she said those values were a contributing factor.

“One of our criteria for evaluating dining brands, presented for feedback at the February FACE Meeting, on campus includes ‘Brand Ethos: Consistency with Campus Life Core Values,'” Furhman wrote. “This criterion, more than any others, is quite subjective. It’s for just this reason that we solicit feedback from the community so they may provide their own opinions and thoughts.”

The adopted floor plan will place a pizza and pasta venue where Chick-fil-A currently resides. Other changes will include the expansion of both the Mexican food and salad areas, as well as the construction of both a grab-and-go station and a coffee and bakery area.

–By Dustin Slade 

Emory Wheel
+ posts

The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.

The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.