Animal rights charity PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has urged the University of York to honour Long Boi’s legacy by removing birds and other meat from all campus menus.
The campaigning group sent an open letter to the University’s chancellor, Dr Heather Melvill following the unveiling of the Long Boi statue last month by Radio 1’s Greg James.
The group has offered to create a vegan starter kit stand next to Long Boi’s statue to help students pay tribute to the duck by stopping to eat animals.
PETA Vice President of Programmes, Elisa Allen said: “Just like Long Boi, every bird is an individual with a unique personality who experiences love, joy, pain, and fear and doesn’t want to be hacked to bits for their flesh any more than we would.
“PETA is urging the University of York to honour Long Boi’s memory by sparing a thought for all of his feathered brethren and leaving birds off the menu.”
The University has declined to comment on the letter.
York SU officers supported an increased range and number of plant-based options however rejected a motion 6-3 against transitioning all union-led catering to an 100% plant-based menu in November 2023.
This followed York students voting in March 2023 in favour of 100% plant-based campus catering by a record-breaking margin of 142 votes, the highest number of votes ever for a YUSUggestion.
30 academic staff at the University joined staff from other universities in signing an open letter in support of the campaign.
The motion was put forward by Plant Based Universities, a student-led campaign that encourages universities to transition to 100% plant-based catering and was launched in late 2021.
Responding to PETA’s letter, Plant Based Universities Co-Founder, Nathan McGovern, said: “Long Boi’s death and outpouring of sadness across York’s campus should really be a sign for the university to step up and do his legacy justice by making a just and sustainable transition to 100% plant-based catering.
“Perhaps PETA are underreaching by not asking for the complete switch!.
“We hope to see the complete switch happen as soon as possible.”
The University announced a collaboration with Forward Food to increase plant-based options on campus in April 2024.
The collaboration involves training chefs to expand plant-based options and a plant-based culinary education session.
12 universities nationwide have voted to transition to 100% plant-based catering following the movement largely driven by Plant-Based Universities. This includes universities from Cambridge to Kent, Birmingham to UCL.
A Vision Instagram poll found that only 13% of students supported the PETA letter with 87% opposing the move to a meat-free campus.