Ole Miss student Senate: Take state flag down

Royce Swayze | The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

OXFORD, Miss. — The University of Mississippi student Senate voted Tuesday night to call for the removal of the state flag — which contains the Confederate battle flag — from university grounds.

The measure passed 33-15 with one abstention. All 49 senators were present.

“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," said Sen. Allen Coon, co-author of the resolution, 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 held by the student chapter of the NAACP on the Oxford campus was attended by more than 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 between the two groups, NAACP members and other students.

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

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

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, senators had reached out via mass email, offering to meet with students to discuss their feelings on the flag.

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 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 previously told The Clarion-Ledger he would approve the resolution if it passes.

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 would become the fourth public university in the state to do so, alongside Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and Alcorn State University.