by Brendan Pringle
The Left is probably laying an egg at the University of New Mexico.
After a semester-long battle to force Chick-fil-A off the UNM campus, the board governing the Student Union Building on Feb. 27 voted to keep the popular vendor.
As many probably remember, in June and July of last year, Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy was brutally attacked by the Left after making several public comments in support of the traditional family structure. Chick-fil-A's throughout the nation have continued to "offend" leftist groups by their mere existence.
The debate at UNM started in October when Miquela Ortiz of the Associated Students of UNM introduced a student Senate resolution demanding that the SUB board cancel its contract.
"Students started expressing to me they felt unsafe to go into their own campus union building. When they said they felt uncomfortable on campus, I felt it was an issue that I should bring up. Supporters of the resolution said that the restaurant's very presence made gay students feel 'unsafe,'" Ortiz said.
Hmm…was it the menacing cow costume or might it have been the threatening motto of "Eat Mor Chikin"?
Nonetheless, the student government passed the resolution 15-3 despite the results of a survey finding that 85 percent of participating students wanted to keep Chick-fil-A on campus.
Ortiz and the other students who voted for the resolution apparently did not care that cancellation of Chick-fil-A's contract would have cost the SUB at least $175,000. Associate Vice President for Student Life Walter Miller said funds would have come from student fees and SUB revenues since SUB cannot ask for funding from the state legislature or from UNM's repair fund.
In other words, tuition would have increased.
The student government's vote advanced it to the SUB board, and students flocked to support the fast food restaurant. The room was packed with students, appalled with the student government's treatment of Chick-fil-A.
After considering all sides, the board voted 8-3 in favor of the establishment.
UNM student Steven Ybarra told the student newspaper that he agreed with the board's decision.
"If they feel unsafe, it's because … they created a symbol of oppression that they feel they need to protect themselves from," Ybarra said. "Nobody is in imminent danger in this campus because of chicken. The majority of students do want to keep Chick-fil-A here on campus."
This incident is simply another example of the Left playing the "offensive" card in order to squash successful conservatives in the world of business.
Kudos to the many students on campus who didn't chicken out under the pressure.
Brendan Pringle is development officer at Young America's Foundation's Reagan Ranch Center
