Trinity University will keep Chick-fil-A in its food court over the objections of the Student Government Association, administrators told students in an email.

“We do not make vendor decisions based on their political or religious beliefs,” administrators told students in the email, sent Friday.

In a resolution passed unanimously on May 1, the Student Government Association had asked the administration to remove Chick-fil-A from the twice-monthly rotation of restaurants served at Revolve, a food station in the Commons Food Court. “Trinity’s values of diversity and inclusion and Chick-fil-a’s values regarding the LGBT+ community are mutually exclusive,” the resolution stated.

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“As primarily a student service, vendor selection for Revolve was and will continue to be based on utilization, variety of options, vendor performance and campus-wide feedback,” the university response said. “Based on these criteria, Chick-fil-A appears to be a preferred vendor by students and the broader Trinity community.”

Vice President for Strategic Communications Tess Coody-Anders said in a statement last week that Aramark, the university’s food service vendor that contracts with Chick-fil-A, would take the student feedback into consideration as part of its annual review of food services. The final decision rests with university administrators, she said.

In the email to students, the administration said it will not recommend removing Chick-fil-A from Revolve. “We appreciate the dialogue initiated at the end of this semester and encourage students to engage with faculty and staff to further explore critical issues. Our assessment of vendors, including soliciting input from students, faculty and staff, will continue annually,” the message said.

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Student government resolutions are non-binding and used by students to formally recommend or request action by administrators. Student government president Ty Tinker said last week that the association decided to consider the issue after students, including Trinity’s LGBT group, PRIDE, brought it up.

Debate over Chick-fil-A’s place on campus followed City Council’s decision to remove the company from an airport concessions contract. Officials at St. Mary’s University, the University of the Incarnate Word and the University of Texas at San Antonio, all of which have Chick-fil-A locations on campus, said last week that no action is underway to close those sites.

LTeitz@express-news.net