Posted on 03/09/2019 11:58:17 AM PST by robowombat
Dean resigns after college blocks Chick-fil-A
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. (BP) -- A dean has resigned from Rider University because the school used Chick-fil-A's Christian views of LGBT lifestyles to block the restaurant from locating on campus.
The Lawrenceville, N.J., university's decision is an affront to her Christianity and violates her conscience, Cynthia Newman said in resigning as dean of the College of Business Administration, a post she had held since June 2017. "I am not willing to compromise my faith and Christian values and I will not be viewed as being in any way complicit when an affront is made to those values," Newman said. "I endeavor every day to do exactly what Chick-fil-A puts forward as its overarching corporate value: to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to me and to have a positive influence on all who come into contact with me."
Newman's decision, publicized Tuesday (March 5) by higher education watchdog Campus Reform, stems from Rider's decision in November, 2018 to strike Chick-fil-A from a list of options surveying students' preference for a new campus restaurant.
"Chick-fil-A was removed as one of the options based on the company's record widely perceived to be in opposition to the LGBTQ+ community," the university said in a letter explaining its decision. Rider spokeswoman Kristine Brown, in Wednesday comments to CNN, said the decision was "not a judgment on religious values."
Chick-fil-A did not respond to a Baptist Press inquiry by press time, but told CNN the restaurant is inclusive.
"We have no policy of discrimination against any group, and we do not have a political or social agenda," CNN quoted a Chick-fil-A representative. "More than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand."
The LGBT community's disapproval of Chick-fil-A dates to 2012 comments by CEO Dan Cathy that he supports a biblical definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The development is the second time in recent weeks Chick-fil-A's biblical views of sexuality have been referenced in a disagreementinvolving a university.
On Feb. 12, an LGBT advocacy group called Chick-fil-A "homophobic" and objected when the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) invited a Chick-fil-A executive to speak at a leadership symposium. The USAFA upheld its invitation to Rodney Bullard, Chick-fil-A vice president of corporate social responsibility and executive director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation, citing the academy's goal of presenting a diversity of viewpoints.
At Rider, Newman decided to resign after a month of conversations with school officials did not resolve her concerns. The school refused to apologize, and gave campus leadership a list of talking points to use when the subject arose.
"It was at that point, when I got those talking points, that I realized I could not, in good conscience, adhere to those," Newman said in a Tuesday Campus Reform interview. "In the absence of the apology for the offense made to Christian values and other values ... those talking points were something I couldn't say in good conscience.
"The implication is people who adhere to values similar to Chick-fil-A's are not responsible citizens," Newman said. "I couldn't put myself in a situation where I would in any way seem complicit when an affront to my Christian values had been made."
Newman will remain on faculty as a marketing professor, she said in her resignation letter.
Rider, granted university status in 1994, describes itself as having "nearly 4,100 undergraduate and 1050 graduate students representing 85 countries, 41 states, and two US territories."
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press' general assignment writer/editor. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists’ concerns nationally and globally.
“Those whom the ‘gods’ would destroy, they first drive mad.”
There’s a bunch of moral-spiritual cruft that comes along with the homo movement, as stated very drily at the end of Romans 1. If a society is resilient enough, the cruft will end up getting the homo movement slammed back into a ghetto as a consequence of what they can’t stop doing. At that point, the difference between the consequences of good and evil become apparent again.
Idols always want more.
If fruit sacrifice makes an idol happy, then an animal will make it happier.
If an animal makes an idol happier, then a person will make it happier still.
God strengthen this woman. She is walking the talk.
The homosexuals and their "allies" are the true haters, they hate marriage between one man and one woman, they don't want normal people to enjoy marriage in a normal way.
It's not revenge; it is punishment for the cardinal sin of being anti-solidarity.
Walking tall. I hope she lands a better job.
She sure does! God bless her for her leadership on this issue.
Yuri Bezmenov spoke the truth. We are the victims of a long running Soviet agitprop campaign in concert with our homegrown Leftists.
They hate Christianity, it is that simple. They enjoy living in the darkness so the light hurts their eyes, it must be shut down everywhere it exists.
Their stating it’s due to “anti-LGBT” and not against “religious liberty” is flatly dishonest. They see a Christian organization as “anti-LGBT” so their efforts to blacklist the business is PURELY due to religious discrimination. They’re walking a fine line and they use this type of wording very specifically.
The should still be sued. If it were the other way around they would. Until a clear message is sent then they’ll continue to discriminate, not only businesses, but Christian’s in general.
I would have to see the contract selection criteria before I passed any opinion. It could have been Lowist bidder, it could have been minority or women-owned, could have been a lot of things that led to Chick-fil-A not getting selected. But the details are in the contractual statement of work or the mission statement. Contracting or acquisitions these days are very accurately documented just in case there is a shoot regarding the selection process. So the information is out there I doubt some yahoo up there at the Acquisitions Department made a snap decision on anything it’s all in the paperwork.
Course there’s always Bob’s hamburger joint. Or maybe they wanted the pho take away.
Re: liberal revenge...Chick Fil A never has discriminated against a homosexual or LGBT person.... personal opinion of the founder of the company... to think that marriage was a man and a woman.so for having that audacity, liberals still feel the need to punish his business??? Why?
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Right. That’s bullying and overkill They first said what harm can adding to the love in the world by allowing two people of the same sex to be married do to anyone? Then, now that we gays won the SCOTUS war against the Christians by one vote, we want to bring trouble from far away to get fines levied against Christian bakers and anyone else to put them out of business. Recently: a cake praising Satan with his image to worship on the cake.
Note: live and let live was the GOP and Christian view before that (leave Elton John and Richard Simmons alone and ignore their personal lives).
Of course it was all about the religious values. Who is she trying to fool?
Good for her
there are many times in life where there will be a conflicting position between the world and your TRUE beliefs.
and you must always choose the latter ( provided they are from the Bible )
Was she dean of fast food?
It’s about an hour north of me. Never understood how this college stays in business charging so much in tuition, when other nearby colleges such as Rutgers charge a lower tuition.
That must be the reason. That whole area is beautiful, at least the last time I drove through it.
The Leftists have a long range plan, and are simply implementing it one step at a time. Conservatives are naive and think that every time they give into one of the steps, it will be the last.
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