OXFORD, Miss. — History has been made on the Ole Miss campus in Oxford.
Campus police lowered the controversial state flag at 7 a.m. Monday to avoid any potential demonstrations.
The move comes after students, faculty and staff voted to remove the flag.
On Monday, student reaction was mixed but mostly positive.
The university’s interim chancellor called removing the state flag an important step for Ole Miss.
“Happy and excited…proud. Kind of all those good emotions, I guess,” Ole Miss senior Ike Hill said.
Reaction from students Monday was mostly supportive after University Police lowered the Mississippi state flag from the Lyceum Circle flag pole.
Ariyl Onstott, a junior, said resolving the flag issue will change the way many people think about Ole Miss.
“I think it will be good because it promotes respect and inclusion,” she said. “And it will be a good step forward for our state.”
Some students believe the flag, which has a Confederate flag in the corner, is divisive.
Ole Miss junior Tysianna Marino said now that it’s gone she has a feeling of relief.
“A sense of belonging for the first time in a while. That this institution actually cares about how I feel and my presence here,” she said.
But not every student shared the same opinion.
“I honestly think it’s a sad day for Mississippians and everyone here,” Ole Miss sophomore John McCay said. “There’s a lot of people that fought and died for that flag, and I just don’t agree on it, to be honest with you.”
Students passed a formal resolution asking the school’s administration to remove the state flag.
The move quickly gained support from the staff counsel and graduate student body.
The decision was made Sunday to remove the flag first thing Monday morning.
“Today is an important day in the life of our university,” interim chancellor Morris Stocks said.
He said the move was not meant to show any disrespect for the state and expressed that in a phone call to Mississippi’s leaders.
“I did call the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house and inform them that we were making this decision. They were all most gracious in their responses…I’m not sure whether they agree or disagree, but they were most gracious.”
Stocks was asked if the university also plans to remove a Confederate soldier statue on the east side of Lyceum Circle. He said the university plans to place a marker next to the statue explaining the statue’s historical significance.
The Mississippi state flag will be placed in the university’s archives along with documents supporting its removal.