UNF removes Papa John’s from campus
August 1, 2018
UNF President David Szymanski sent out an email today, Aug. 1, announcing that UNF will remove the Papa John’s restaurant from the John A. Delaney Student Union. The decision comes after the founder of Papa John’s made offensive remarks in a conference call earlier in July.
“UNF is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community,” the email stated. “We’re committed to creating a culture of respect and to providing a path for people from diverse backgrounds to succeed.”
A new in-house pizza outlet will be replacing the venue in the Student Union.
UNF Spinnaker will continue to update this story and more information becomes available.
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Stewart • Aug 13, 2018 at 5:13 pm
I ate there a few times and couldn’t even get the employees to cook the pizza completely…..most of them had a bad work ethic and bad attitude. I couldn’t see why anyone would miss undercooked bad pizza anyway…. Let’s look at food quality and overall accountability of the company and ALL its employees to replace them.
J. • Aug 3, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Agree. There are a host of other healthier pizza joints like MOD Pizza, Pieology and Pizza Fusion. Maybe workout a contract with a Jacksonville based veggie or organic pizza company?
giantrat • Aug 2, 2018 at 4:06 pm
I see the comment section is especially bad today. The writings were on the wall back in *May*, they already planned to end the contract. All the school president did was announce what Chartwells is replacing it with, which is their own pizza joint.
steve • Aug 2, 2018 at 5:18 pm
Can’t be. Papa John’s nasty comments were only made public in July by Forbes. So if the *May* writing is on the wall decision was made in May to replace Papa Johns the reasoning given by the President of UNF that it was because of the comments reported in July doesn’t wash. I know the President wouldn’t use the excuse of the comments as a convenient reason to kick them off campus. Me thinks this paper needs to question the President further. Something is fishy. If nothing else we should have full disclosure from our own administration on decisions affecting our campus.
steve • Aug 2, 2018 at 11:21 am
C’mon Spinnaker, do your job! You are the voice of the UNF students and staff. This isn’t about Papa John’s. This is about a new President that has just set a precedent of making unilateral decisions on your behalf. Are you going to sit back over the coming years and simply report on his unilateral proclamations that affect all of all of us. Maybe next time he decides to remove a fraternity or club team from campus because some knucklehead made an off color remark at a meeting or practice. He works for us not the other way around. I find his comment about “inclusion” ironic when he makes an “announcement” like this during the summer months. What is the literal cost of this decision and will it affect students, how was this decision made? who was consulted? Will he be disclosing any future legal action this Papa John’s franchisee levies on UNF? How will the next tenant be decided? By him? You better “train” this President now or live with the consequences.
Stephanie Smith • Aug 2, 2018 at 7:43 am
Meanwhile chicfila has been supporting anti-lgbt movements for years and funding ‘pray the gay away’ camps… But that sort of active intolerance is not an issue to the board???
Perhaps this was chosen as a token gesture because the papa johns was never that busy and they knew many students wouldn’t notice or care.
I would like to think that they mean what they say about inclusivity and tolerance but the continued presence of an openly anti-gay corporation suggests otherwise.
Kara • Aug 2, 2018 at 10:55 am
More like pizza is seasy to mKd and they want to keep the profit for themselves.
Hector Gomez • Aug 2, 2018 at 1:44 am
Are they going to add a “Papa John’s Removal Fee” to the tuition bill this semester?
steve • Aug 1, 2018 at 5:44 pm
Oh great. One of the first official acts of the new President is the PC garbage routine of removing Paps Johns from campus because the founder, who has since resigned, made an offensive remark. Buckle up UNF looks like we hired a left wing PC loving President whose easily distracted from his primary duties. oy vey!
Justin Ostrowsky • Aug 1, 2018 at 8:49 pm
Couldn’t agree more. They should have taken some sort of survey because I highly doubt anyone cares. So much other stuff this guy could be focusing on. This comes after the university spent over $200,000 to get papa johns in the first place!
Barry (Trent) Miller • Aug 2, 2018 at 10:57 am
I think you have hit the nail on the hand! This is a useless act.
Monahan • Aug 2, 2018 at 11:37 pm
Yep you have that right! Be sure and add the expense to the tuition for next year for removing Papa J’s. How noble.
Monique Heggs • Aug 1, 2018 at 3:03 pm
Can the students vote on what pizza spot or other restaurant we want to see replace Papa John’s? I’d rather see a Pizza Hut with longer hours than 5:30pm or whatever time Papa John’s use to close. Personally, I think we should add a Wendy’s on campus…
Mitchell Mathews • Aug 2, 2018 at 10:28 am
I agree either Pizza Hut or Wendy’s
Monahan • Aug 2, 2018 at 11:39 pm
The students don’t need ANOTHER fast food junk food joint. Have you seen how many UNF students lately that are obese? Try a healthier enterprise to replace Papa Johns.