The University of Mississippi (UM) will remove the Mississippi State Flag from its Oxford campus due to a student senate resolution passed late last week.
The UM Police Department lowered the flag, which is the only one in the nation to feature a Confederate emblem, Monday morning and will store it in the University Archives, the school announced in a statement.
The UM Associated Student Body Senate (ASB) approved a resolution last week 33-15-1 in favor of removing the Miss. State Flag from campus due to its Confederate emblem. Allen Coon, an ASB senator and president of the College Democrats at UM, introduced the resolution and was surprised to see the school's administration approve it so quickly.
"They didn't announce anything. They did it early this morning," he told CNN. "The leadership acted swiftly, and despite the opposition from the governor, who two days ago said college students act emotionally, they took it down. It's exciting."
The UM ASB was not the only entity on campus that was calling for the removal of the flag, as faculty members and students alike supported the idea as well. While the UM administration did not formally take either side of the matter, they did support the ASB's decision and followed through with action swiftly.
Since the State of South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from its capitol building, several southern schools are grappling with their ties to the Confederacy and pro-slavery politicians and public figures.
"The University of Mississippi community came to the realization years ago that the Confederate battle flag did not represent many of our core values, such as civility and respect for others," UM Interim Chancellor Morris Stocks said in the school's statement. "Since that time, we have become a stronger and better university. We join other leaders in our state who are calling for a change in the state flag."
