The cost of a chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-A is $4.85. 

The cost of a Chick-fil-A sandwich at H-F is $5.30 and a possible riot.

Our Principal’s Advisory Committee (PAC) proposed the crunchy idea of having Chick-fil-A brought in during their  Jan. 26 meeting, as a possible lunch option to help boost school spirit, per associate principal Craig Fantin, but the execution was too spicy to handle.

H-F only purchased a small amount of Chick-fil-A sandwiches and expected anything other than chaos? H-F admitted that they only bought 100 sandwiches per lunch period. This, including North Building, amasses 800 sandwiches for ~3,000 students. I hope I don’t need to explain to you where the issue in this half-baked idea lies. 

I understand that acquiring these sandwiches isn’t free, but H-F surely isn’t strapped for cash. The way I see it, if you’re going to promise Chick-fil-A to hungry teenagers, go big or go home. 

When asked if the chaos and fighting were food-related,  PAC member Ahmad Powell said, “I don’t think it would have happened if there wasn’t Chick-fil-A there. On the other hand, we are in high school and that’s just kind of how people act. I think if you’re going to have something special you have to account for mishaps and things like that.”

The Principal’s Advisory Committee was the responsible party behind having the food brought in and has not met since the deep-fried mishap, according to Powell.

The conclusion could be reasonably drawn that the excitement over the sandwiches directly led to the altercations that took place, but Fantin disagrees.

“I don’t think the altercations that took place had anything to do with the Chick-fil-A,” Fantin said.  “I know that was the rumor, but there was another situation that led up to that. It’s impossible to say because I didn’t talk to the students who were involved, but I don’t think there’s any correlation.”

Not to run a-fowl, Chick-fil-A isn’t exactly the best multi-billion corporation to support. I know they’re an H-F sponsor, but that’s not the only thing they want to sponsor. 

The National LGBTQ+ Task Force reported, “The Chick-fil-A controversy stemmed from the millions of dollars the fast-food chain donated to anti-LGBTQ and hate groups over the years. Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A, also made hostile remarks against marriage equality.”

I know they’ve made strides in revoking their homophobic views since then and largely no longer donate to homophobic institutions, but Chick-fil-A is widely known as a homophobic corporation.

All this being said, H-F is going to try again, according to both Fantin and Powell. 

“I think the plan is to alter some things, but we’re going to talk through that,” said Fantin. “Obviously the first time, you learn from it and it’s not going to be perfect. We’re trying to come up with a solution that’s going to make it better.”

This “solution” is still in the works, and no decisions have been made yet.

Despite the various issues, the problem boils down to the students.

Admin could place security all over and move the food to another line, but at the end of the day, if students aren’t going to react reasonably, H-F isn’t going to be able to bring food in like this. 

Students can’t physically attack someone over a sandwich, that’s like having a chicken sandwich with no mayonnaise or pickles. 

Ridiculous.

End of story, if H-F students want to be given more responsibility and privileges, they have to earn it.