Unsurprisingly, Fox News has once again misled the nation by misreporting the IU Residence Halls Association’s decision to not continue to offer Chick-fil-A as an option in the ?basement of the Wells Library.

In a segment titled “Ruffled Feathers,” Fox reported that the Association voted 18-9 to cut Chick-fil-A “based on concerns over the company’s position on same-sex marriage and other LGBT issues.”

Fox anchor Elisabeth Hasselbeck hosted IU student and Forest Quad president Andrew Ireland to theoretically provide insight into the situation.

But that quickly disappointed when Ireland claimed that students “put their personal beliefs before the needs of other students” and “voted ... to give Chick-fil-A the boot.”

As Hasselbeck gleefully manipulated Ireland with leading questions to depict RHA members as a clan of unbalanced liberals eager to bring their proverbial hammer down on conservatives and their enterprises, Ireland claimed that “This is about much more than a sandwich, this is about an act of intolerance toward a worldview held by so many across this great country and across our campus.”

The facts are these: Chick-fil-A has not been banned from campus. RHA put the matter to a vote because they hold jurisdiction over the food choices in the cafe in Wells Library. Chick-fil-A’s lease on the space was up, and plans were already in place to add another Chick-fil-A location in the Indiana Memorial Union. The question then became whether or not IU’s Bloomington campus needed two Chick-fil-As.

The board decided that, economically, that was unnecessary. Therefore, it voted not to renew the Wells location’s lease.

Another thread pursued by Fox’s Hasselbeck was the comparison between Chick-fil-A and Starbucks, which also has a location on campus in both the Union and the basement of Wells. She aimed to point out a double-standard by asking Ireland if the RHA planned to vote on Starbucks, which has been historically liberal and supportive of same-sex marriage.

Ireland responded that “We’ve never looked at anything like this before, this is the first time this has ever happened, and there’s really a double-standard that we’re seeing here. We’re really weighing in on the politics of one company but not another.”

As a heavily-involved student and a member of the RHA who voted on the matter, Ireland undoubtedly was fully aware both of reality and of its strategic manipulation, which conveniently garnered him attention on national ?television.

His decision to bypass other modes of expression and activism at IU and go straight to the country’s most prominent conservative platform suggests an aim to fuel his not-so-secret political aspirations. So yes, in his own words, this is certainly about so much more than a sandwich.

The so-called discrepancy highlighted by Hasselbeck can be traced, once again, to simple logistics: Starbucks’ lease on their space in the library has not expired and its popularity warrants two locations.

Furthermore, Chick-fil-A has donated at least $5 million to organizations and certified hate groups that depict gay people as pedophiles, seek to make “gay behavior” illegal and state that gay people should be “exported” out of the United States.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is an outspoken advocate for same-sex marriage, but has not engaged in any discrimination by donating to hate groups.

Clearly, this is another example of conservative media and individuals distorting reality to appear victimized and to demonize students with socially liberal views.

That could not be farther from the truth. IU students will continue to enjoy chicken sandwiches less than a half mile south of 10th Street.

sbkissel@indiana.edu

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