Despite Protests, UCI OKs Carl’s Jr. Outlet on Campus

Despite protests from some students, a Carl’s Jr. franchise is coming to the UC Irvine campus.

A university official on Tuesday confirmed that an agreement has been reached with the fast-food company and that a contract will be signed soon. The contract will allow a Carl’s Jr. to operate out of a trailer on campus for a little more than a year, until construction is completed on an expanded University Center.

Opponents had sought to keep the fast-food outlet off the campus because they oppose the politics of Carl Karcher, the founder of Carl Karcher Enterprises, the owner of the fast-food chain. The Gay and Lesbian Student Union at UCI charged that Karcher was anti-homosexual because he gave $5,000 to an unsuccessful 1978 initiative that would have barred gays from teaching in public schools.

Other campus opponents, including the Women’s Resource Center, charged that Karcher was unsympathetic to minorities and to women.

In counterattack, supporters of Karcher said the merits of his business should be the issue, not his personal beliefs.

Horace Mitchell, UCI vice chancellor for student affairs, emphasized Tuesday that the university did not consider anyone’s politics to be an issue in the matter. “This was simply a business situation,” Mitchell said.

He added that Carl Karcher Enterprises had agreed to standard university contract language, including the affirmative action provision, promising special consideration to the hiring of minorities and women.

Mitchell said the contract will be in effect from March 21 this year to June 22, 1989. “There is the option that either side may cancel with 60 days’ notice,” Mitchell said.

The vice chancellor added that the Carl’s Jr. outlet will be in a trailer parked on the UCI Social Science Plaza. The trailer, which will be painted in blue and gold, was approved for the location by the campus’s Planning and Environment Committee, Mitchell said.

The university sought a temporary fast-food outlet because the expansion of the University Center, where many students eat lunch, has closed the food service there. Mitchell said that UCI contacted major fast-food outlets and that only Carl’s Jr. showed interest.

“We are happy a settlement has been reached in this matter,” he added.