Ole Miss student Senate: Take Mississippi flag down

OXFORD — The University of Mississippi Associated Student Body Senate voted Tuesday night to call for the removal of the state flag from university grounds.

The measure passed 33-15 with one abstention after more than an hour and a half of debate during a meeting that lasted almost three hours. All 49 senators were present.

The resolution was co-authored by ASB Sen. Allen Coon of Petal and several student organizations, including the school’s NAACP chapter, National Pan-Hellenic Chapter, and UM Pride Network.

“It’s just overwhelming to know that the voices of students that are affected by this image, that feel excluded by this image, that are hurt by the symbol, that their voices were heard," Coon said after the vote. "It means that we truly are taking steps toward progress, that we care about change, that we care about students and that we respect difference.”

On Friday, a rally protesting the state flag — which contains the Confederate battle flag — held by the student chapter of the NAACP on the Oxford campus, was attended by over 200 people. Nonstudents identifying themselves with the International Keystone Knights — a Ku Klux Klan affiliate — and the League of the South staged a counter rally, which led to heated exchanges involving profanity between the two groups, NAACP members and other students. University police officers were called in to monitor the scene and eventually escorted members of the KKK and League of the South off campus.

John Brahan, vice president of ASB Senate, said he believes the two hate groups’ appearance on campus persuaded some senators to vote in favor of the resolution.

Brahan during the meeting called the flag’s inclusion of the Confederate emblem “a symbol of hate."

“For once, the ASB Senate is actually doing something more than congratulating the football team and looking for crosswalks to put on campus. We are pushing social issues,” he said. “The ASB does not have power, but what we do have is influence.”

An amendment was added to the flag resolution Tuesday night to “encourage the Mississippi legislature to hasten their pursuit of a new state flag.”

In the weeks leading up to the vote, ASB senators had reached out to their constituents via mass email, offering to meet with students to discuss their feelings on the flag.

ASB Sen. Andrew Soper of Tupelo started an online petition a month ago to keep the state flag on campus, which garnered over 200 signatures within a couple of hours, he said. Soper also circulated several hard copies of the petition around campus, gathering roughly 1,200 signatures, he estimated.

Soper said he believes the flag should remain on campus because the university receives state funds and that the people of Mississippi voted to keep the flag 14 years ago in a referendum.

“There should not be a debate. This a state issue, not a university issue,” said Soper,

Now that it has passed, the resolution will go to ASB President Rod Bridges of Madison, who has the authority to veto the resolution. Bridges, who previously told The Clarion-Ledger he would approve the resolution if it passes, said he was pleased with how the Senate handled the situation thus far.

In a statement read at Tuesday night's meeting, Bridges, who is not allowed to speak on the Senate floor, said, “I understand the need for a change, and this is our chance and opportunity to propel this university forward by showing the world that we support a vision in which color doesn't divide, in which groups don’t feel oppressed, and in which our brothers and sisters will no longer feel threatened because of this symbol.”

The university chancellor has authority over the flag’s presence on campus. Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks, who has shown support for a new sate flag, said he will discuss the issue with his leadership team before taking any action.

If the University of Mississippi stops flying the state flag, it will become the fourth public university in the state to do so, alongside Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and Alcorn State University.

Follow @royce_swayze on Twitter.