Cynthia Newman, former dean of the College of Business at Rider University, made a bold decision last month to walk away from her job after her school banned Chick-fil-A for the company’s Christian values.
Newman says students on campus voted to bring Chick-fil-A to their New Jersey school, but Rider denied the proposal over what they perceived as the restaurant’s “opposition to the LGBTQ+ community.”
According to Newman, the choice to deny Chick-fil-A a presence on campus carried much more weight than just satisfying a craving for tasty chicken and waffle fries.
For the strong woman of faith, it was about the company’s well-known Christian values that were openly denounced by Rider.
“I felt like I had been punched in the stomach when I read that statement,” said Newman. “I’m a very committed Christian and Chick-fil-A’s value — their corporate purpose statement is to glorify God and to be faithful stewards of all that’s entrusted to them and to have a positive influence on everyone who comes into contact with them — and I would say that that mirrors my personal beliefs perfectly. And so I really felt it very personally.”
Not one to make a scene, Newman initially contacted university leaders in private, requesting that they extend an apology for their offensive email.
Instead, Rider University decided to do the exact opposite.