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Confederate Flag on Campus - Hannah Wilson

The Ole Miss Campus underwent a monumental change recently finalizing their decision to remove the Mississippi flag from its campus due to its eye-catching Confederate emblem, answering the pleas of the majority of their campus to remove it as a statement against the mistreatment and discrimination of the past and the present that is reflected by the symbol. This decision presented challenges for the campus as well as the college alumni forcing them to acknowledge and face the much wider issue of what it means to remove the confederate flag.

Removing the confederate flag is considered hurting the culture and lifestyle of Mississippi’s past by some, and this was one of the factors that impacted the school’s decision. The Washington Post describes this impact, stating that “[Removing the flag will be] a dramatic change for a university long proud of its southern traditions and ties to the Confederacy, a school that closed down entirely during the Civil War when nearly all of its students enlisted, and one that was at the center of a seminal moment in the civil rights movement.”

Ole Miss has been deeply involved with issues regarding the Confederacy in the past. During the Civil War, the campus closed down for students and opened a hospital for injured soldiers as well as graveyard for those who had died while fighting. In 1861, the University Greys, an organization dedicated to the ideas of the Confederacy, about 100 students, chose to leave the campus to fight in the war. All of these students were killed during the war. The campus reopened in 1865. In addition, the campus supports a number of monuments in honor of those who died fighting for the confederacy. A statue of one of these soldiers was built in the center of their campus in 1906.

After the civil rights movement, Ole Miss began to distance itself from the Confederacy. The 1980's sparked changes that deeply impacted the traditions of its sports teams. In the past, confederate flags were held for festivities at games, but after their first black cheerleader refused to wave one of the flags, the campus began to remove them through student policy. They also changed their mascot from Colonel Reb, a figure representing the Confederacy and the South’s history of slavery, to the less controversial Rebel Black Bear.

Ole Miss’ interim chancellor Morris Stocks also emphasizes the influence of their history in the decision to remove the flag; “As Mississippi’s flagship university, we have a deep love and respect for our state. Because the flag remains Mississippi’s official banner, this was a hard decision.”

On the other side, students argued that the flag, as it represents the evils of the Confederacy, prevents them from feeling welcome on campus, suggesting that heritage is important but that which is reflected by the flags is not simply heritage, it’s hate. Ann- Marie Herod, Senior at Ole Miss, presents these issues with the flag, emphasizing how personally the removal will influence her and her life as a student and beyond; “There was a time when [People of Color] were not wanted at this University. To some, that may have been 50 years ago, to others that may have been just a few years ago, and for me, it was just last week.”

The final vote was made by a group of elected student representatives. The Faculty Senate had previously reached nearly a unanimous agreement to remove the flag. The 49 students part of this body, The Associated Student Body Senators, after hours of debate reached an agreement to remove the flag as well. Although both bodies agreed, the campus remained alive with protest as outside groups flooded the campus. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People came in support the decision, peacefully protesting, but the Mississippi League of the South protested more forcefully, making students nervous with their signs arguing that “Black Lives Don’t Matter,” “Diversity is Hurting Us,” etc.

This change, although heavily debated, is a welcome one by the majority of most students. The campus has reached a consensus that the confederate flag represents a hate that cannot be tolerated on their campus in any form, and their decision provides new insight into the the debate about more national issues of the acceptance of the Confederate flag and Confederate emblems.

-Hannah Wilson