SDSU’s Students’ Association voted Monday night to support the administration’s decision to bring Chick-fil-A to campus and later voted not to denounce the company’s donation history against LGBT causes.

In a 23-6 vote, the senate — in resolution 12-04-R — supported the decision made last year by university leadership to bring Chick-fil-A to campus as part of The Union dining expansion, along with Panda Express and Extreme Pita. Numerous senators spoke on the issue on both sides.

Sen. Hassan Ali was among the most ardent opponents of the resolution, saying that the senate was merely congratulating the university for its decision with the resolution.

“If we pass a resolution for everything SDSU does, we should congratulate them for choosing Coke over Pepsi,” said Ali, a College of Arts and Sciences representative.

Co-sponsor of the resolution Sen. Michael Rauenhorst argued in support of the measure.

“It’s a freedom of speech issue. It’s a freedom of religion issue,” Rauenhorst said, a representative of the College of Engineering.

Kaytlin Pelton, another co-sponsor from the College of Ag and Biological Sciences, hopes that Chick-fil-A coming to campus would promote the discussion at SDSU about LGBT issues.

“What better way to promote diversity than to bring in this company … That would be awesome.”

After the first resolution passed, resolution 12-05-R was proposed, stating that “the SDSU SA denouncing Chick-fil-A’s financial support, via its partnership with the Winshape Foundation, of organizations that promote dishonest discourse against the LGBT community.”

Sen. Austin VanderWal, of the College of Engineering, said he didn’t understand how Chick-fil-A was being hateful with their donations, which drew a frustrated response from Ali, who buried his head in his hands.

After less discussion than the previous resolution, it failed with 9 “Yes” votes and 20 “No” votes.

A group of roughly 20 people were in the audience, including representatives of the SDSU Gay Straight Alliance, but no audience input was voiced for either resolution.

The following is a summary of how the SA senators voted Monday:

12-04-R and 12-05-R

Senators:

Ali, Hassan (Arts & Sciences) – N, Y

Barber, Laura (EHS) – Y, Y

Bhandari, Raj (Graduate) – Y, N

Chicoine, Amanda (EHS) – Y, N

DeBoer, Logan (Engineering) – N, N

Dybedahl, Paul (At-Large) – Y, N

Dykhouse, Vanessa (Arts & Sciences) – Y, N

Hompe, Lindsey (Nursing) – PN, PY

Mack, Murphy (Pharmacy) – Y, N

McCranie, Courtland (At-Large) – PN, PY

McLain, Jim (Arts & Sciences) – N, Y

Meyerink, Denielle (Arts & Sciences) – Y, N

Moeller, Madeline (Nursing) – (n/a)

Mohamed, Amir (Nursing) – Y, Y

Murley, Brandi (EHS) – Y, N

Nowak, Jessica (Pharmacy) – Y, N

O’Connell, Colleen (Pharmacy) – Y, N

Pelton, Kaytlin (Ag & Bio) – Y, N

Rauenhorst, Michael (Engineering) – Y, N

Sesso, Ben (Ag & Bio) – PY, PY

Shileny, Thomas (Graduate) – Y, N

Siglin, Olivia (Ag & Bio) – N, N

Stout, Ben (Ag & Bio) – Y, N

Trammell, Elizabeth (At-Large) – Y, Y

VanderWal, Austin (Engineering) – Y, N

Wehner, Cody (Ag & Bio) – Y, N

Executive Board:

Berreth, Jameson (President) – (no vote)

DeJong, Wyatt (Vice-President) – Y, N

Vellek, Daniel (Admin. Assistant) – Y, N

Ruggeberg, Ben (Finance Chair) – Y, N

LaJoie, Shannon (Programming/PR) – (no vote)

Goetz, Jameson (State and Local) – Y, Y

Y=Yea

N=Nay

A=Abstain

P=Proxy

2/3=21 votes

50%=16 votes

12-04-R: 23 Y, 6 N; Resolution passes

12-05-R: 9 Y, 20 N; Resolution fails