A new Big Chicken location is now open inside the Legacy Food Court at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi — making the historically Black university the first HBCU to host the fast-casual chicken concept founded by Shaquille O'Neal. The opening, executed through a dining partnership with SodexoMAGIC, marks Big Chicken's fourth college campus location and deepens parent company Craveworthy Brands' strategy of placing its portfolio concepts in nontraditional foodservice venues.
The HBCU Opportunity
Jackson State enrolls more than 6,000 students and carries R2 research institution status with more than 90 academic programs and a Division I athletics program. For operators and brand developers watching campus dining as a growth channel, the partnership illustrates how celebrity-backed fast-casual concepts can compete for coveted nontraditional contracts alongside legacy foodservice operators. SodexoMAGIC — a certified Minority Business Enterprise and joint venture between Sodexo and Magic Johnson Enterprises — manages the university's dining program, providing the operational infrastructure for the new unit.
"Everything we do is centered around enhancing the campus experience for our students, faculty, staff and visitors," said Jackson State President Denise Jones Gregory, Ph.D. "We're thrilled to be the first HBCU to offer this award-winning concept founded by basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal."
Murat Bora, Regional Vice President of SodexoMAGIC, framed the deal as part of a broader commitment to bringing nationally recognized brands into campus dining: "This partnership reflects our commitment to bringing innovative dining options to our students, and we're excited to welcome everyone to experience Big Chicken for themselves."
Menu and Operating Hours
The Jackson State unit serves breakfast through early evening, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., designed to match the full arc of campus life. The menu spans a BIG Breakfast lineup — including chicken and biscuit, and bacon, egg and cheese biscuit options — along with signature sandwiches such as The Original, Uncle Jerome's Nashville Hot and the Shaq Attack. Chicken tenders, crispy snack formats, bold sides including mac and cheese and crinkle-cut fries, and hand-spun shakes round out the offer.
The extended breakfast daypart and late-evening close are deliberate choices for a campus environment, where meal-period flexibility and late-night traffic can drive meaningful incremental volume — a dynamic increasingly recognized across campus and nontraditional foodservice.
Craveworthy's Nontraditional Push
The Jackson State opening follows Big Chicken's recent launch at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where it joined six additional Craveworthy concepts inside the John Lewis Student Center under the Crave Kitchen Georgia Tech banner. Craveworthy Brands operates more than 20 concepts across 300-plus locations in the U.S. and internationally. Big Chicken itself now counts more than 40 open locations with additional units in development, spanning traditional restaurants, college campuses, arenas, airports, and cruise ships.
For foodservice operators tracking brand licensing and multi-concept campus dining strategies, Craveworthy's campus model — co-locating multiple concepts within a single venue — represents a template worth watching. Craveworthy Brands CEO Gregg Majewski pointed to the school's culture as the strategic draw: "Jackson State has the kind of energy and school pride that Big Chicken was made for. I can't wait to see Big Chicken become part of the Jackson State experience, whether it's breakfast before class, lunch with friends or Shaq Snacks on the way to a game."
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
