Our State Flag Foundation was created as a campaign asking for the University to reinstate the flying of the Mississippi state flag, which was removed from campus on Monday Oct. 26 after a resolution for its removal had passed through the ASB Senate, Faculty Senate and Graduate Student Council. The foundation is being sponsored by senior public policy leadership major Andrew Soper and alumni Jonathan Maki, who graduated in 2006. Both Maki and Soper became involved with the foundation after being contacted by groups of concerned students and alumni.
“This campaign came alive, which has now evolved into the Our State Flag Foundation— that came alive because we don’t support any design in particular of the flag. We know that the flag was voted on and chosen by the state of Mississippi. We support the people of Mississippi in their decision for the flag, and we don’t support the University becoming a political activist organization against the state that funds us,” Maki said.
The design of the present state flag of Mississippi was sustained by a large majority vote taken in the state in 2001.
“That was 14 years ago and I realize that, but this is still our current official state flag and we are the flagship University. What’s a flagship University if you don’t fly its flag? So, I don’t support any ideology of the flag. I support the state flag that was voted on by the taxpayers of Mississippi,” Soper said.
According to Soper, taxpayers of Mississippi fund students’ tuition, grants, financial aid and scholarships, as well as provide support for faculty and staff salaries.
“Taking the flag down is disrespectful to the people of Mississippi who voted to keep the flag, because they’re the ones who are coming in to fund the University,” Soper said.
Maki said the issue does not revolve solely around the students. According to Maki, there are many stakeholders in the Ole Miss community, including alumni, administration, faculty, taxpayers and fans.
“So, all of these people have an interest at stake in this University and all of their voices should be heard in this matter because it represents us all,” Maki said. “That’s our main goal in saying that this is the University of Mississippi funded by the taxpayers of Mississippi: you should fly the state flag of Mississippi whatever iteration it may be. Now, if the voters of Mississippi decide to change the state flag, then Ole Miss should fly the new state flag, but it’s not the place of the University to turn its back on the state which created it and funded it.”
Maki said the foundation was not created to persuade citizens to believe in the purpose of the state flag. He said it is not the place of the foundation or the government to make decisions on the flag, but it is an issue that needs to go to the voters of the state. Both Maki and Soper believe they have received equal support from students and alumni in their endeavor.
The Our State Flag Foundation has only been operating for a few weeks. The foundation’s GoFundMe account has raised over $1,200. It also has a fully operational website and Facebook page that Maki said raised over 1,100 likes within 48 hours of creation. The GoFundMe account has been shared over 2,200 times across various social media outlets.
“I’m on the ASB Senate, I respect their decisions, but I don’t agree with it,” Soper said. “I support the state flag flying, but I just don’t think it’s a very good representation of the entire student body when you have 49 senators to 17,000 students. I think the best way we could’ve gotten a representation of the people’s opinion was to go to a student-wide vote. Allen Coon didn’t poll the student body.”
In response, Coon, the President of UM College Democrats, said, “We opted to utilize the democratic process to address this symbol on our campus. Students organized, rallied and made their voices heard. ASB senators serve as representatives for our student body, and ASB acted to uphold the tenets of our Creed.”
ASB Vice President John Brahan said he wants to make it clear that the foundation is not an ASB initiative and Soper is merely promoting it as an individual.
Maki said he does not know where the foundation is going, but they want to keep the dialogue going and provide a good community where people can approach them on the issue. The foundation will be using the money raised to make and distribute state flag paraphernalia, including stickers to distribute in the Grove on game days and yard signs with the foundation’s logo.
“We want it to be a very respectful community dialogue about all of these issue and these tough decisions, but we want it to be a place where people can approach us and we can have educated, intellectual conversations with people,” Maki said. “We want to be that kind of place.”
Related Story: Confederacy lives on in southern state flags.
Tennessee state flag | Six states in addition to Mississippi have references to the Confederacy embedded in their flags. Click on the Tennessee state flag above to see more.
