The University plans to continue the construction of Chick-Fil-A on campus, he said.

Many students on campus took a stance after Dan Cathy, president of Chick-Fil-A, shared his opinion against same-sex marriage to the Baptist Times online journal July 17.

Cathy announced that he believes in the  “the biblical definition of the family unit,” meaning he objects to same-sex marriage.

His statements sparked controversy among the nation and a discussion about gay rights and freedom of speech.

“The employees who work for Sodexo are not working for Chick-Fil-A,” Nelsen wrote in an email. “Sodexo assured me that they do not and will not discriminate against their employees or their customers or anyone.”

Nelsen “strongly objects” to Cathy’s statements against same-sex marriage and wants to reassure students that the University supports the LGBT community.

“I am comfortable that his views are not the sentiment of Sodexo,” Nelsen said. “We will monitor very closely the situation.”

The following statement was released by Sodexo:
–
Sodexo Statement on Issues Regarding Chick-fil-A
July 2012

Sodexo chooses restaurant partners based on feedback from our customers. We also provide options to suit individual client sites. Because of our diverse customer base, Sodexo provides a broad portfolio of brands, which include our own brands, and regional and national brands.

Sodexo is the benchmark company for diversity and inclusion in our industry, and we consistently have been recognized among all companies in North America as a great place to work. We embrace, leverage, and respect the diversity of our workforce, our clientele, and the communities in which we live, work and serve.

Sodexo is proud to support our LGBT employees and values their contributions to our mission of providing quality of life services. As part of our commitment we include sexual orientation and gender identity in our non-discrimination statement and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy. We provide domestic partner benefits, inclusion training, and sponsor the Sodexo PRIDE employee network group. Our Supplier Code of Conduct also includes a non-discrimination statement that includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

Sodexo Supplier Code of Conduct – Non Discrimination Statement

Sodexo believes that all terms of employment should be based solely on an individual’s ability to do the job. Sodexo requires its Suppliers to uphold a commitment to basic principles of human rights. This means that Suppliers should not discriminate against employees in hiring, promotion, salary, performance evaluation or any other term or condition of work, on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or any other basis prohibited by law in the applicable jurisdiction.