History was made on the University of Mississippi campus at 9:34 p.m. at the Bryant Hall as the Associated Student Body Senate voted 33-15 (with one abstaining voter) to pass Resolution 15-13 that calls for the removal of the state flag from the university campus.
Although the ASB Senate voted in favor of the resolution, it will not go into effect immediately. The resolution, after being signed by ASB President Rod Bridges, will be sent to the University administration for the Dean of Students Dr. Melinda Sutton, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Dr. Brandi H. LaBanc and Acting Chancellor Dr. Morris Stocks to consider.
If the administration accepts the resolution, the University of Mississippi will join other universities within Mississippi to remove the flag after Alcorn State University, Jackson State University and Mississippi Valley State University.
As the co-author of Resolution 15-13, ASB Senator Allen Coon, gave a four-minute summation before the final vote. Below is one quote from his speech provided by the Ole Miss Senate Twitter.
"We have a moral obligation to remove this image from our campus. It has no place on this University's campus."- Senator Coon
— Ole Miss Senate (@OleMissSenate) October 21, 2015
This resolution was amended before it was voted on. ASB Senator Christian Schloegel asked the resolution be amended to show the issue is with the current design of the state flag, not the state flag itself.
The Confederate battle flag emblem on the Mississippi state flag is an issue with many students on campus. The UM Chapter of NAACP, joined by supporters, expressed this sentiment at last Friday’s pro-resolution rally where the Georgia chapter of Klu Klux Klan met them in counter-protest.
Below is the final version of Resolution 15-13.
Also, ASB Senator Andrew Shaw’s resolution 15-12 asking for Ole Miss Athletics’ permission to use one of the Pavilion flagpoles to fly a sports flag supporting Ole Miss athletics teams on their gamedays unanimously passed the same night.
This article has been corrected to remove the Mississippi State University from the list of universities that took down the state flag before October 2015.
Callie Daniels Bryant is the senior managing editor at HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at callie.daniels@hottytoddy.com.
