Ole Miss no longer flies the Mississippi state flag

The debate surrounding the Confederate battle flag symbol grew louder over the summer after the shooting of nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C. The university's interim chancellor called removing the state flag an important step for Ole Miss.

In August, the University of Texas at Austin opted to remove an outdoor statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America to be re-purposed as part of a "new educational exhibit", according to university officials. I understand the flag represents tradition and honor to some.

One of those students, Ike Harris, an Ole Miss senior, said, "The students and faculty handled the conversation in an excellent manner, and even if the administration had chosen not to take down the state flag, I still would have been impressed with the respect everyone showed for each other". Within the span of one week, similar approvals of this move passed in the Faculty Senate, the Graduate Student Council, and the Staff Council.

University leaders have also called for the Legislature to remove the state flag. Even the school's teams and mascot are named the "rebels", referring to the rebel forces of the Confederacy. Stocks, whose final approval was necessary, said it was a difficult decision because of the flag's traditional symbolism. Ole Miss police arrested Tyler Campbell and Virgil Dennison.

Until Monday, the University of Mississippi flew the state's... The state flag has the Confederate flag in the top corner, and many people find that offensive. The accused white gunman, Dylann Roof, was seen in photographs posing with the flag.

Okoye said the removal of the flag from campus is a sign that progression is possible and he is looking toward the future. Governor Phil Bryant has repeatedly stated he does not support such a move because he believes a majority of Mississippians would still vote it down (and as we all know, the "rightness" of things is always decided by popular vote). "I don't think they have any legal authority whatsoever to determine what the state flag is and where it flies, particularly over public buildings".

The Mississippi state flag will be placed in the university's archives along with documents supporting its removal.

The flag came down just ahead of Thursday's campus visit by the board's choice to succeed Jones - University of Kansas Provost Jeffrey Vitter - who told the AP in an interview last week that he is committed to diversity, but offered no opinion on the flag. Residents chose to keep the flag during a statewide vote in 2001.

"It clearly states 'The state flag shall receive all the respect and ceremonious etiquette given the American flag,"' Bryant . Mississippi was a major cotton-producing state, and tens of thousands of slaves from Africa were imported and forced to work the fields.