Freeze on flag removal: 'It’s the right thing'

Update: 2:30 p.m.

Head football Coach Hugh Freeze commented on the University of Mississippi removing the state flag from the official flag pole on campus. “It’s the right thing for this University, and hopefully the state will follow suit. (Taking down the flag) represents adequately our core values because this state is so hospitable.  While (the flag) means a lot of positive things for a lot of people,  it also brings up some hurt feelings for some too and I just think it’s time that we all move forward together.  I spoke with Chancellor Stocks this morning and feel It was very positive the way everyone handled it here at the University, “ Freeze said.

Athletic Director Ross Bjork said, “The entire process was civil - it’s not an easy conversation to have, but the students handled it professionally and with a lot of maturity, the faculty and staff council were willing to have the conversation. To me, that’s what it’s all about as a University is that you’ve got to have the hard discussions. Ultimately it is the right decision so I applaud our leadership team and especially Chancellor Stocks, because he is our leader, for making the right decision."

Update: 1:55 p.m.

Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks said that he spoke with the state college board's preferred candidate for Chancellor Jeff Vitter this morning about the decision to no longer display the flag on campus. Stocks said Vitter understood the reasoning in taking down the state flag. Stocks added that he thinks the university is better off in removing the state flag before Vitter, who will visit campus Thursday, arrives.

In addition to Vitter, Stocks also informed the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Lt. governor of the university’s decision to take down flag. He said they were "most gracious" in their response but would not speculate on whether they agreed with the decision.

“We appreciate our state leadership and we do not mean this in any form of disrespect for our state. We love our state and we’re proud to be a part of the state of Mississippi. But we believe for us to accomplish our academic mission this was the right move at the right time,” said Stocks.

Gov. Bryant provided the following statement to The Clarion-Ledger:

“Mississippians overwhelmingly voted in 2001 to adopt the current Mississippi state flag.  I believe publicly funded institutions should respect the law as it is written today. It clearly states ‘The state flag shall receive all the respect and ceremonious etiquette given the American flag.’ ” 

Stocks acknowledged that Confederate iconography remains on the campus, but said there are no plans to remove the Confederate statue that was erected in The Circle. Instead, the university will seek to contextualize the image of the soldier with a marker to explain the statue’s history and how the university has changed over the years.

Update: 12:45 p.m.

The state flag has also been lowered at The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

At a press conference today, Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks said that he does not have the authority over the flag's presence at regional campuses.

The decision to take down the state flag was unanimous among Stock's leadership team who met for three hours Sunday.

At a press conference today, Stocks indicated that the discussions started Friday following the Associated Student Body Senate and Faculty Senate's joint passage of a resolution requesting the removal of the state flag from campus earlier in the week.

Citing protests and counter protests regarding the state flag, Stocks said his leadership team believed that removing the flag at 7 a.m., unannounced and “without fanfare” was the best way.

Original Story:

University of Mississippi campus police officers lowered and furled the state flag in a Lyceum Circle ceremony Monday morning. The flag will be preserved in the University Archives along with resolutions from students, faculty and staff calling for its removal.

The University of Mississippi student senate adopted a resolution asking administrators to remove the flag. The faculty Senate adopted a similar resolution.

Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks ordered the flag lowered and said it was being sent to the university's archives.

"As Mississippi's flagship university, we have a deep love and respect for our state," Stocks said in a statement Monday. "Because the flag remains Mississippi's official banner, this was a hard decision. I understand the flag represents tradition and honor to some. But to others, the flag means that some members of the Ole Miss family are not welcomed or valued."

Thursday Governor Phil Bryant told reporters he did not think the university's associated student body senate, who voted 33-15 with one abstention to request the removal of the flag from campus, had the "legal authority" to determine whether the flag flies, noting it was a public building.

A few opponents of the effort have asserted public universities are required to display the state flag.

Two sections of the Mississippi Constitution Miss. Code Ann. § 3-3-15 and  § 37-13-5 address the display of the state flag at public buildings and schools.

Section 3-3-15 reads:

"The state flag may be displayed from all public buildings from sunrise to sunset; however, the state flag may be displayed from all public buildings twenty-four (24) hours a day if properly illuminated. The state flag should not be displayed when the weather is inclement, except when an all-weather flag is displayed. The state flag shall receive all of the respect and ceremonious etiquette given the American flag. Provided, however, nothing in this section shall be construed so as to affect the precedence given to the flag of the United States of America."

According to Section 37-13-13, the state flag "shall be displayed in close proximity to the school building at all times during the hours of daylight when the school is in session when the weather will permit without damage to the flag."

The section which goes on to state, "It shall be the duty of the board of trustees of the school district to provide for the flags and their display," does not reference institutions of higher learning in Mississippi.

"Our legal research has not turned up any law that applies to the display of the state flag at public universities and other state agencies. We are hopeful that state leaders will hear the growing call for change and create a new flag," said Lee Tyner, General Counsel for the University of Mississippi in an email statement The Clarion-Ledger.

"As Interim Chancellor Stocks has said,  "Our state needs a flag that speaks to who we are. It should represent the wonderful attributes about our state that unite us, not those that still divide us.”

Check back for more on this developing story.