Florida A&M University is eating more chicken since Chick-Fil-A unveiled a month ago. Tomorrow, Rattlers can eat more chicken at the ribbon cutting ceremony in the Orange Room to welcome the restaurant to FAMU.
The ribbon will be cut in front of the Orange Room at 10:40 a.m. Students present at the ribbon cutting ceremony will receive handouts and participate in a give away, courtesy of Chick-Fil-A.
Paul Melvin, the supervisor at the specialized chicken restaurant, encourages faculty and students to enjoy the festivities and the food.
“The purpose of the cutting the ribbon on Monday is to give Chick-Fil-A an official grand opening,” Melvin said. “We would like to let everyone know that we’re officially here.”
Brandon Slayton, a Chick-Fil-A employee, said, “It will be a good opportunity for people to come through to eat some good food.”
Both Slayton and Melvin are expecting a crowd. Usually around 10:30 a.m., the chicken fast food restaurant experiences a pre-lunch rush. Also, many students will be dismissed from class around 11:05 a.m.
However, not everyone is excited about the recent opening of the specialized chicken restaurant on campus. Alysa Carswell views it as another money problem for the school. “I don’t understand why we need it,” Carswell said.
Carswell went on to explain that she thinks the school's funds would have been better allocated to parking service issues, upgrading technology and the purchase of more books.
“Funds would have been better allocated to what we need versus what they think we want, I don’t remember voting for a Chick-Fil-A,” Carswell said.
The ribbon cutting ceremony is intended to raise awareness on the recent opening and inform students to Chick-Fil-A’s business practices and hours of operations.
“A lot of people don’t actually know that we’re here or they don’t know our hours,” Slayton said.
The Chick-Fil-A on FAMU’s campus is open during weekdays from 11 a.m. until midnight, except on Fridays when the restaurant closes at 6 p.m. Chick-Fil-A is open Saturday’s from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The restaurant will be closed on Sundays in compliance with the “Closed-on-Sunday Policy” that has been the standard for Chick-Fil-A restaurants nationwide since 1946. The late Truett Cathy, who was the owner of Chick-Fil-A originally created the policy as a silent testimony to his Christian faith, allowing franchise owners and employees to observe the Sabbath.