Talking Points: I Love Jason Collins

April 30th, 2013 by Joe Kozlowski

This column was supposed to be about something else. Maybe Brian Burke suing anonymous Internet posters (writing under names like ‘poonerman’ and ‘sir psycho sexy’) for suggesting he was fired for having an affair. Maybe Chad Ochocinco/Johnson spending the weekend with a homeless man named Porkchop, buying him clothes, food and fun. It could have been how the Rangers are on fire entering the playoffs or how R.A Dickey hasn’t been the same this year. You know, normal sports stories.

But on Monday morning, something more important happened. Jason Collins, who has played over 10 years in the NBA and suited up for the Nets, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Hawks, Celtics, and Wizards ,announced that he is gay. He is the first active male athlete in an American ‘big four’ (basketball, baseball, football, and hockey) sport to come out. And I love him for doing that. Read more…


NYU Decided To Keep “Homophobic” Chick-fil-A Long Before Petition Launched

March 5th, 2012 by Zoë Schlanger

Last Thursday, NYU Student Senators Council announced its decision not to ban the campus Chick-fil-A, despite the company’s $2 million in donations to Christian organizations which oppose gay marriage.

The announcement came just as a throng of students gathered outside of Weinstein Hall, which houses Chick-fil-A, to protest the “anti-gay” chain. A petition begun by a Gallatin freshman in January had gathered over 11,000 signatures opposing its presence on campus. The outcry had made national headlines, and students at Northeastern University had successfully blocked a Chick-fil-A from opening on their campus barely a week before. Things were looking promising, but one thing was never said: the Student Senators Council had made their decision long before any of this took place.  Read more…


NYU Announces It Will Not Ban “Homophobic” Chick-Fil-A

March 1st, 2012 by Zoë Schlanger

NYU announced Thursday that it would not be banning the Chick-Fil-A franchise on campus, despite the company’s $2 million donation to organizations that oppose gay marriage. A petition begun by a Gallatin freshman in January, aiming to rid NYU of Chick-Fil-A, has gathered 10,843 signatures at the time of this publication.

In an email to the student body, NYU Student Senators Council based their decision on the claim that it would infringe on Chick-Fil-A’s freedom of speech.

“To ban any entity from campus for ideological reasons is, in most every case, to limit freedom of expression,” wrote Cotugno, chair of the Student Senators Council. Read the full email below:  Read more…


Freshman Pens Petition To Rid NYU Of Homophobic Chick-fil-A

February 6th, 2012 by Ashley D'Arcy

The latest in the Chick-fil-A saga is a petition that has surfaced online, written by Gallatin freshman Hillary Dworkoski. In the past we’ve brought you news of the conservative chain, and how to avoid eating their homophobic chicken. Now Dworkoski is hoping to change the Chick-fil-A, housed in Upstein, from an avoided eatery to a nonexistent one.

Hosted by change.org, her petition reads:

While Chick-fil-A denies having an “agenda against anyone,” an investigation by Equality Matters revealed that Chick-fil-A’s charitable arm, WinShape, donated nearly $2 million to anti-gay groups in 2009 alone. That $2 million supported groups such as Focus On The Family, Exodus International, and the Family Research Council.

And New York City’s only Chick-fil-A is located in a cafeteria in a New York University dorm.

NYU prides itself on being a diverse, open and inclusive campus community. Unfortunately, maintaining a contract with an anti-gay vendor like Chick-fil-A undermines what makes this university so great.

While the NYU Student Senators Council recently voted not to remove vendors for political reasons, they did retain that the school could remove vendors that violate human or labor rights. As Secretary Clinton recently announced, “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” As such, I respectfully request that NYU remove Chick-fil-A from campus.

Read more…