Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash hoping to resolve flag issue quickly

While Hampshire College’s decision not to fly the U.S. flag has drawn nationwide attention, President Jonathan Lash has been meeting with students, staff and faculty in hopes of resolving the issue soon.

College spokesman John Courtmanche said Lash held between six and eight meetings Tuesday and will continue holding meetings Wednesday and Thursday about “how people interpret the flag. He wants everyone on campus to feel they have a voice.”

While there is no specific timetable, Lash and administrators are “working very quickly … hopeful to arrive at a resolution of not having a flag on the pole.”

Hundreds attended a protest on campus Nov. 27 and another demonstration is planned for Sunday.

The campus stopped flying the flag Nov. 18 while it held discussions about the flag and its meaning to people on campus.

Earlier, the day after the election, students lowered it to half-staff, then others burned it on the eve of Veteran’s Day. Afterward, the college decided to fly it at half-staff, but then removed it when some were upset with that.

The flag has been of concern since last year when a group of faculty of color sent a letter to Lash after the flag was lowered to half-staff following a terrorist attack in Paris but not lowered after an attack in Beirut.

That, the faculty members wrote, conveyed the message that “not all bodies are equally grievable … not all lives matter equally.”

he election of Donald Trump as U.S. president rekindled the discussion, but the removal of the flag was not a political statement, Lash said.

While some see the flag as a symbol of the country, Courtmanche said, others on campus see it as a symbol of oppression and inequality. They cite the hate speech during the presidential campaign targeting people of color, Muslims and gays and lesbians, he said.

By lowering the flag, the board of trustees was trying “to recognize the grief our community is feeling,” he said.

“We support the office of (the U.S.) president, but our community is feeling grieved over people in the community being targeted,” Courtmanche said.

On campus Wednesday, a second-year student who asked that his name not be used for fear of retribution said he supports the flying of the flag. By taking it down, he said, “I feel we’re rewarding the destruction of property” referring to the burning.

“It was disrespectful to burn the flag on Veteran’s Day,” he said.

He went on to call the political atmosphere at the college “stagnant.”

“You agree with it (the left perspective) or it’s the wrong way,” he said.

Another second-year student said she supports having the flag removed while the discussions are held.

“It’s important to have a dialogue about it,” she said. She sees the flag “as an empty symbol” and doesn’t see why veterans should be protesting.

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