University of Delaware Students Want the Blue Hens to Go Cage-Free

More than 1,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.org calling on the University of Delaware, whose mascot is the blue hen, to stop supporting the inhumane treatment of egg-laying hens by switching to cage-free eggs.

Chelsea McFadden, a University of Delaware student, launched the campaign on Change.org after learning that Harvard University switched to 100 percent cage-free eggs in response to another campaign on Change.org, which gained more than 7,000 supporters. University of Delaware is the only large university in the Philadelphia-Baltimore corridor that has not gone cage-free.

“The University of Delaware has already made significant strides in supporting more responsible methods of meeting its needs — such as introducing hybrid buses, instituting single-stream recycling throughout the campus, starting a composting program, and more. Switching from battery-cage eggs to cage-free is another step the University should take on its current path,” said McFadden. “Cage-free eggs are more humane, more environmentally sustainable, and a healthier option for UD students — all things that should be a top priority for the state of Delaware's largest institution of higher-education.”

McFadden’s campaign is supported by The Humane League, a grassroots animal advocacy organization.

"Over the past few years, student activists at hundreds of colleges across the country have successfully campaigned to get their dining halls to go cage-free,” said Nick Cooney, Director of The Humane League. “Not only are they succeeding in making their schools more sustainable, humane, and higher in food safety, but they're also proving that a small group of passionate people really can educate an entire campus and bring about a crucial sustainability improvement."

Within hours of the campaign’s launch, McFadden had recruited hundreds of supporters. The Vegetarian Students Association is also gathering signatures on campus and has received pledges from alumni who say they will withhold donations unless the university purchases exclusively cage-free eggs.

Students and alumni hope the administration will respond to the demand for compassion in the dining halls. "Dining Services teams usually welcome student involvement and are happy to go cage-free once they learn that it's an important issue to students," Cooney added.

Like conscientious students across the country, Chelsea is finding time between classes to organize support on an issue that’s important to her, gathering hundreds of signatures from her peers, alumni, staff and people around the world.

Photo courtesy of The Humane League