One Framingham State University student’s protest prompted Sodexo to ditch its Cinco de Mayo celebration in the cafeteria on the Framingham, Mass., campus.
The student claimed the cafeteria’s decor, as well as previous Cinco de Mayo celebrations on campus, disrespected Latino and Mexican cultures. The student filed a report with the Bias Incident Response Team, saying the cafeteria’s decorations were overtly offensive.
“[O]n Cinco de Mayo the dining services team decides [that] in honor of a glorious victory against French colonizers in Mexico we should decorate the [dining] commons,” the student said in the report, which was exclusively reviewed by Heat Street. “The decorations included blow up chili peppers, pancho decorations, donkey pinatas and other overtly racist and clearly ignorant decorations.”
After receiving the complaint on the afternoon of Cinco de Mayo, Framingham State’s Chief Diversity Officer Sean Huddleston reached out to the director of dining services. The cafeteria immediately removed the decorations, apologized and offered to meet with the student.
The school’s communications director, Daniel Magazu, said Sodexo decided to remove the decorations without intervention or suggestion from the Diversity Office or the Bias Incident Response Team. “We applaud Sodexo for how they handled the concern,” Magazu said in an email to FoodService Director.
Huddleston told the director of dining services the student suggested that “Sodexo and others who would like to honor and celebrate the culture to consult with students, faculty and staff who identify as members of that culture prior to the celebrations.”