Christian School Cautions Female Students Against Hooters Employment

The administration at a Texas college is incensed about women in the school’s student body potentially working at Hooters and issued a statement asking students considering employment to think about what the restaurant really represents.

Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, is preparing for the opening of a new Hooters restaurant location less than a half-mile from the campus, KTXS-TV first reported. The chain known for its chicken wings and scantily clad staff has come in conflict with the school’s handbook which asks that students “make decisions that ultimately glorify God” both on and off the school’s campus.

Emerald Cassidy, ACU’s director of public and media relations, told KTXS in a statement that “we have asked students to consider both what Hooters represents and whether that is something they really want to support in terms of both their faith and the value this business model places on women.”

The private school, about 150 miles west of Dallas, has 4,544 total students -- a prime target for Hooters’ college demographic in terms of both employment and potential restaurant patrons. When asked whether male students who visited Hooters could be expelled or whether female students who choose to work there could be expelled, Cassidy said that “all situations would be handled case-by-case.”

“If a student was in a position where the university felt they were not upholding the standards in the handbook, we’d address those issues with that student at that time,” Cassidy said.

McMurry University, another religious-based private school in Abilene, told KTXS that it does not restrict or instruct students on where they can or can’t work off-campus. Many current and former students took to social media with reactions that rejected the school's message for how students should or should not make money in their private time.