The Hampshire College American Flag Is Back

Photo via Hampshire College

Hampshire College returned an American flag to its central flagpole Friday morning, walking back a decision to remove it that made the off-beat campus an unlikely post-election flashpoint that attracted the attention of the president-elect himself.

College President Jonathan Lash announced this morning that Old Glory would be raised again in the Western Massachusetts school’s courtyard. Lash, along with other members of the college’s leadership, made the call to go flag-less in response to protests after Donald Trump won the election. Some students lowered the flag to half-staff. A still-unknown person, in the middle of the night, burned it.

“This morning we raised the United States flag to full staff at Hampshire College after a two-week discussion period about what the flag means to members of the Hampshire community,” he says in a statement, adding, “We raise the flag now as a symbol of that freedom, and in hopes for justice and fairness for all.”

After the flag came down in the days before Thanksgiving, there was widespread condemnation for the decision. A group of veterans held a rally outside the campus. Some of them planted small flags in the Hampshire College lawn. “I want them to understand how bad that hurts me,” one veteran protester told a TV news reporter.

Lash reacted to that criticism.

“We did not lower the flag to make a political statement. Nor did we intend to cause offense to veterans, military families, or others for whom the flag represents service and sacrifice. We acted solely to facilitate much-needed dialogue on our campus about how to dismantle the bigotry that is prevalent in our society. We understand that many who hold the flag as a powerful symbol of national ideals and their highest aspirations for the country—including members of our own community—felt hurt by our decisions, and that we deeply regret.”

It’s no doubt been a long two weeks for Lash and the people who work and study at his school. Online critics railed against Hampshire students. TV personality Tucker Carlson ridiculed one of them on the air. Lash called the police on Bill O’Reilly goon Jesse Watters when the “comedian” jammed his foot in the 71-year-old’s doorway to demand he explain himself.

Donald Trump posted an incendiary tweet suggesting people who burn the flag be jailed or lose their citizenship (burning the flag is constitutionally protected speech, and you can’t just revoke someone’s citizenship as punishment for a crime). He didn’t name Hampshire specifically, but his tweet came a few minutes after a news segment aired on TV about the college.

Although Lash says the removal of it wasn’t meant to be “political,” it certainly was, in the way that everything is. The controversy that followed it was messy, it was aggressive, it was polarizing, it was not always based on facts (it wasn’t true that all flags had been banned from the campus, as had been reported), and it gave us more clues about the role hasty, antagonistic hot takes will play in our incoming president’s government.

It was also one oddball component of a much larger conversation about patriotism, “patriotic correctness,” and what to do in a free country when your side loses. Trump opponents have protested the results of the election, and voiced frustration about a country that lets someone who loses the popular vote by such a significant margin hold office. That is the way things are done in this country. But should it be? Trump supporters have criticized those protesters: Sure, you can protest the results of a democratic process, as is your right in a democracy. But should you?

Lash, referring to the apparently still-ongoing discussions about the nature of the flag at his college, had this to say: “This is what free speech looks like.” He was right.

Here is Lash’s full statement:

This morning we raised the United States flag to full staff at Hampshire College after a two-week discussion period about what the flag means to members of the Hampshire community. College leadership, including the board of trustees, had decided on November 18 to lower the flag for a time to encourage uninhibited expression of deeply held viewpoints.

We are alarmed by the overt hate and threats, especially toward people in marginalized communities, which have escalated in recent weeks. We did not lower the flag to make a political statement. Nor did we intend to cause offense to veterans, military families, or others for whom the flag represents service and sacrifice. We acted solely to facilitate much-needed dialogue on our campus about how to dismantle the bigotry that is prevalent in our society. We understand that many who hold the flag as a powerful symbol of national ideals and their highest aspirations for the country—including members of our own community—felt hurt by our decisions, and that we deeply regret. 

The dialogue we have experienced so far is the first step of a process. Hampshire staff and faculty have led facilitated discussions, I have held multiple focus group sessions, and all of our students, faculty, and staff have been invited to contribute their opinions, questions, and perspectives about the U.S. flag. This is what free speech looks like. We believe in it, we will continue this work on campus, and we will look for ways to engage with our neighbors in the wider community. We raise the flag now as a symbol of that freedom, and in hopes for justice and fairness for all.

At Hampshire, we are committed to living up to these principles: 

·      To insist on diversity, inclusion, and equity from our leaders and in our communities, and the right to think critically and to speak openly about the historical tensions that exist throughout the country

·      To constructively and peacefully resist those who are opposing these values

·      To actively and passionately work toward justice and positive change on our campus and in the world.

No less should be expected of any institution of higher learning.