The Associated Student Body Senate voted to pass a resolution requesting the removal of the Mississippi flag from campus Tuesday night.
All 49 ASB senators were in attendance. The senate needed 25 votes to pass the resolution and the final tally was 33-15-1 in favor. Two amendments were added in the course of the meeting, the first clarified the language of the resolution and the second encouraged a revision of the official state flag.
Including the senators, there were nearly 100 students in Bryant room 209. After reaching capacity, the overflow went to Brevard 134, where a crowd of more than 200 gathered to watch the live stream.
Vice President John Brahan said ASB does not have the power to take down the flag, but by passing the resolution, the senators are voicing the opinions their constituents and the student body.
The resolution will be sent to ASB President Rod Bridges to be signed and to the administration to be reviewed by the dean of students, vice chancellor of student affairs and the interim chancellor. The decision to act upon the resolution and remove the state flag from campus is at the discretion of the administration.
Chair of the faculty senate Michael Barnett said he was impressed by the students and thinks there were a lot of good points raised. He said he was excited to see the resolution pass and hoped the faculty would also support the resolution.
“I certainly intend to bring it up with the executive committee of the senate and encourage us to have this as part of an agenda item in the very near future,” Barnett said. “But until that point, I can’t say definitely.”
Bridges said he is proud of how the meeting went and how the senators represented the student body and themselves.
“49 senators stepped up and they did exactly what they were supposed to,” Bridges said. “Even though it was not a unanimous decision, it was something that reflects, hopefully, initial change for what’s to come.”
Surrounding the senators sat student spectators, media lining the walls and University police officers standing at each door. Space was limited in the senate chambers, and hundreds of students watched a live stream of proceedings from Brevard Hall’s Comer Auditorium. The entire two hour-and-fifteen-minute meeting was anxious and tense. Once the voting results were announced, the room filled with ease.
The senate underwent a long journey to arrive at its decision. Senator Allen Coon has been involved with the resolution throughout the process.
ASB Senators raise their placards to vote for the flag coming down. (Ariel Cobbert | The DM)
Coon helped co-author the resolution and presented it to his fellow senators standing beside UM NAACP President Buka Okoye, Black Student Union President Justavian Tillman and former Mr. Ole Miss Rob Barber. All four men spoke in favor of the resolution and its purpose to promote diversity and inclusion within the UM community.
“This meeting is the culmination of many weeks of dialogue and debate at our University,” Coon said. “I would like to briefly state that this resolution is in no way intended to be an affront to the state of Mississippi. This resolution is intended to address the existence and inclusion of the Confederate emblem in the Mississippi state flag.”
Following the presentation of the resolution, a section of questioning commenced. The questioning period allowed senators to clarify logistics of the resolution. ASB declared there were two flags on campus at the time of the meeting, and that the University was not required to fly the state flag, despite it being public and funded by the state.
“In light of the recent decision made by the Associated Student Body Senate, Sigma Nu Epsilon Xi has removed the state flag from our flag pole in an effort to show respect and support for all members of The University of Mississippi family,” Taylor Massengill Sigma Nu fraternity president said. “It is our hope that the University can move forward and begin to focus on the bright future ahead of us.”
The debate portion took up most of the meeting and involved senators sharing their personal opinions and acting as a voice for their constituents.
Senator Paul Lee said, as an Asian student, people told him this was a white-versus-black issue, but the resolution was fighting to bring justice to more people than just one demographic.
“It was something for Mississippi as a whole,” Lee said. “I call Mississippi my home.”
Lee said Mississippi has flown its flag for 120 years and could continue to wave it for decades more, but ASB had the opportunity to enact real change.
“We keep trying to put it off for another day, but maybe we don’t have tomorrow,” Lee said.
Senator Saxon Nelson said he entered the meeting without a definite idea of how to vote.
“I came in tonight completely torn,” Nelson said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was looking for clarity and I came in with an open mind.”
Nelson said his initial reaction was opposition because he thought it was a disgrace to his home state to take down its flag. He said his opinions changed after the recent events on campus, and he intended to abstain because of the polarization on both sides.
After the session’s seven-minute recess, Nelson decided to support the resolution and encouraged other senators to do the same.
“I realized that the reasons I was abstaining or opposing were the wrong reasons,” Nelson said.
Coon was allotted a final four minutes to speak before senate finally voted. There was a clear difference in Coon’s voice during his final speech. He spoke with a raised voice, full of authority and passion.
“Flags tell narratives,” Coon said. “They say to the nation and to the world: ‘This is who we are. This is what we represent, this is what we promote, this is our identity.’”
He said the current Mississippi flag does not represent inclusion and progression, as long as it includes the image of the Confederate flag.
“I’m a Mississippian,” Coon said. “That is not my flag.”
Silence fell upon the room as voting began. ASB executives counted and recounted the votes to ensure accuracy. With a smile, Brahan announced the resolution had passed and applause filled the room.
UM NAACP President Buka Okoye said the moment was a step forward for the University. He said students came together to tell the University how they feel about the flag being flown.
“The world is literally watching at this point what the administration is going to do,” Okoye said. “We really do want to see what action looks like.”
-Lana Ferguson
