Legislature about the possibility of a new Chick-fil-A Restaurant on campus was read for the first time at the ASUW’s weekly meeting.
During her address to the Senate, President Brown, an author of the bill, spoke to the contentious nature of the bill and urged the Senators to act with goodwill.
“This is a topic with a lot of personal and constituent opinions at play and we need to begin all the dialogues about this resolution from a place of respect and understanding for others’ opinions,” President Brown said.
Senate Resolution # 2835: Considerations Regarding Bringing a Chick-fil-A to the University of Wyoming outlines how many individuals have expressed concern about Chick-fil-A potentially coming to campus because of the company’s extreme anti-LGBTQ+ history.
The company has made donations to anti-LGBTQIA+ charities and the chairman and former president, Daniel Cathy, has a long history of making comments against the LGBTQIA+ community.
However, the bill also recognized that a majority of UW students and employees want the company on campus.
The bill made it clear that if Chick-fil-A were to be brought to campus all proceeds the company generates for UW should go to directly supporting LGBTQIA+ students and employees.
The bill suggested funding the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Multicultural Affairs, and any related efforts that have the primary goal of making UW a more inclusive campus.
Senate Resolution # 2835 will be debated during the ASUW’s next meeting and if passed will be sent to the UW Board of Trustees, President Seidel, and Vice President for Student Affairs Chestnut.
The ASUW senate also debated Senate Bill # 2834: Changes to the Student Organization Funding Board Finance Policy Regarding the Minimum Number of Days Requirements for Requests which if passed will simplify the requirements Student Organizations need to meet when making requests for events they wish to host.
Two other bills were voted on as well.
Senate Bill #2832: ASUW By-Law Scholarship Policy Changes, which was passed unanimously. The intended purpose of the bill is to make the policies on the scholarships offered by ASUW clearer.
The Senate then moved on to consider Senate Bill # 2833: Creation of a Separate Endowments Policy and after some debate it was tabled indefinitely.
Of this bill, Senator Castronovo said, “It is not a time-sensitive issue and so it doesn’t need to be pushed through now.”
Throughout the meeting efforts to get out the vote were also mentioned several times.
During his communications to the Senate, Director of Student Outreach Murfitt reminded the Senators that the midterm elections end on Nov. 8 next week and urged them to talk to their constituents about voting.
“There will be tabling on Monday and Tuesday next week to remind students to go vote and we will be providing maps and information as well,” Murfitt said.
“Please remind your constituents of this because voting is one of the best ways for citizens, especially college students, to participate in our government.”
The next meeting of the ASUW Senate is on Nov. 8 at 7:00 p.m., all students are welcome to attend.
