Monday, April 24, 2017

LGBT Protests of Chick-Fil-A at Duquesne University Garner National Attention



LGBT Protests of Chick-Fil-A at Duquesne University Garner National Attention
by Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. 23 Apr 2017
The ongoing saga of LGBT protests of an upcoming Chick-fil-A restaurant on campus at Duquesne University, a Catholic college in Pittsburgh, has taken on biblical dimensions as a test-case of safe spaces and microaggressions in American higher education.

According to its mission statement, Duquesne University is “a Catholic university founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit,” dedicated to serving God while espousing a “profound concern for moral and spiritual values.” It also professes a commitment to “an ecumenical atmosphere open to diversity.”

For its part, Chick-fil-A CEO management has articulated a biblical understanding of marriage that exactly mirrors Catholic teaching, while also emphasizing that they do not discriminate in any way, and are more than happy to serve anyone who wishes to eat at their establishment.

In 2012, Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, stated: “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

“We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles,” he said.

Lambda Gay-Straight Alliance, the LGBT student organization on campus, considers
Chick-fil-A’s commitment to traditional marriage potentially offensive to gay students, despite the obvious fact that no one is required to patronize the restaurant who doesn’t want to.

At the March 26 meeting, Lambda executive board member Niko Martini proposed that the Student Government Association (SGA) pass a resolution asking the university to reconsider the inclusion of Chick-fil-A as a dining option for students. Martini said he made the proposal on his own behalf and not Lambda’s.

“Chick-fil-A has a questionable history on civil rights and human rights,” Martini said. “I think it’s imperative the university chooses to do business with organizations that coincide with the [university’s] mission and expectations they give students regarding diversity and inclusion.”

Martini did not explain how eliminating a food establishment committed to a biblical understanding of marriage would increase diversity on campus.

Meanwhile Lambda President Rachel Coury expressed worries that the safety of LGBT students might be at risk.

“I’ve tried very hard within the last semester and a half to promote this safe environment for the LGBTQ+ community,” Coury said. “So I fear that with the Chick-fil-A being in Options that maybe people will feel that safe place is at risk.”

Debate sparked by the confrontation, swirling around a series of issues from religious liberty to gay rights to a proper academic environment, have now reached a national level, according to the Duquesne Duke, the university’s campus newspaper.

In an interview on Fox and Friends, retired U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell, an alumnus of Duquesne University, minced no words in expressing his dissent from the contemporary environment on the campus of his alma mater.

“They’re a bunch of babies. College is supposed to prepare you for the real world, not shield you from opposing opinions, and safe spaces do exactly that. Who doesn’t want as an undergrad Chick-fil-A on their campus? I would have killed for a c on my campus when I was at Duquesne,” he said.

“My message is: toughen up. There are no safe spaces in the real world,” he said. “If you’re going to be successful in this life after you leave college you’ve got to learn to embrace adversity and open yourself up to a litany of different opinions. You will never be a CEO of a major company or an entrepreneur or a manager if you are not willing to work with people different than you.”

Hostility toward proponents of traditional marriage was foreseen by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in his potent dissent of the landmark 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case that made gay marriage the law of the land.

Alito prophesied that the misguided decision would be used to damage citizens who do not share a contemporary view of marriage as an elastic arrangement between an unspecified number of unspecified persons.

“It will be used,” he wrote presciently, “to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.”

Duquesne University
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is the lobby firm for Duquesne University.

Note: John A. Barbour is the chairman for the Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, and a trustee at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is a trustee emeritus at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, an emeritus life trustee at the Carnegie Mellon University, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Harlem Children's Zone.
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and the founder of the Soros Fund Management. 
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Catholic Relief Services.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Sam Nunn is a co-chairman & CEO for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and Michelle Nunn’s father.
Michelle Nunn is Sam Nunn’s daughter, and was a board member for Be the Change.
Kevin Jennings was the president & CEO for the Be the Change, an assistant deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, and the founder & executive director for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the founder of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, an endowed predecessor schools for the Carnegie Mellon University, and the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Newton N. Minow is an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Francis E. George was a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the archbishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, a trustee at the Catholic University of America, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and a cardinal for the Roman Catholic Church.
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.  
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Cameron F. Kerry is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and John F. Kerry’s brother.
John F. Kerry is Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, and was the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is married to John F. Kerry, an emeritus life trustee at the Carnegie Mellon University, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a trustee emeritus at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.
John A. Barbour is a trustee at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and the chairman for the Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is the lobby firm for Duquesne University.
Stanley F. Druckenmiller is the chairman & benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, was a managing director at the Soros Fund Management, and a chairman & CEO for Duquesne Capital Management.
Zachary Schreiber was a managing director at Duquesne Capital Management, is a trustee at the Harlem Children's Zone, and the CEO for PointState Capital.
Former Duquesne managers prep big launch
Point State Capital to start with $5 bln, one of biggest launches ever
By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Former managers of Duquesne Capital Management are preparing to start a new hedge fund that will oversee roughly $5 billion, one of the biggest such launches ever, two people familiar with the situation said Friday.
The new fund is called Point State Capital. It will focus on a strategy known as global macro, trading based on broad economic themes.
Point State was over-subscribed. It will close to new investment on the same day as it launches, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Point State may be the second-largest hedge fund launch ever. Jack Meyer, who ran Harvard University’s endowment for almost 15 years, raised a record $6 billion for Convexity Capital Management in 2006. Read about Convexity here.

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