AMHERST – A local veterans group plans to line the streets outside Hampshire College with hundreds of U.S. flags Sunday following a national firestorm that erupted this week after the college removed Old Glory from campus.
Meantime, state Rep. John Velis is calling on the college to fly the flag once again.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 754 of Amherst and others will meet outside the college’s West Street entrance at 1 p.m. Sunday for a “peaceful demonstration of freedom.” The gathering is a response to a two-week long saga surrounding main flag flown at the center of Hampshire’s campus, which was lowered to half-staff by students upset with the election of Donald Trump, burned, replaced by administrators and lowered again to half-staff. Hampshire President Jonathan Lash announced Friday the flag was indefinitely removed.
The removal came after some were upset by Hampshire’s flying of the flag at half-staff beyond that which is prescribed by U.S. Flag Code, which the college periodically does, and is the latest example of long-running controversy and diagloue about the flag at Hampshire. It was removed Friday to allow for discussion at the college, Lash wrote in an email.
“There’s other ways that he (Lash) could have dealt with this,” VFW Post Commander Victor A. Nunez Ortiz said. “(Removing) our flag is disrespectful not just to the men and women who have served, but to all Americans who believe our flag is a symbol of freedom.”
The event’s Facebook page as of mid-day Wednesday had over 200 RSVPs, with 1,300 people invited. Nunez Ortiz said that the demonstration would be a peaceful one and not block any college entrances. Participants plan to flank entrances while holding U.S. flags, he said.
“Depending on how many demonstrators we get, we’ll probably do both entrances with flags – a lot of flags – thousands of flags, as many as we can get,” said Nunez Ortiz, who is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
He said he expects people from across New England, some arriving on motorcycles, to join the gathering.
Hampshire spokesman John Courtmanche said the college community welcomes discussion about the flag, especially considering the institution’s social justice-minded culture.
“Of course we promote dialogue about this, a peaceful dialogue about this, on and off our campus,” he said. “We just hope it remains civil discourse.”
The local VFW members aren’t the only ones contributing to discourse surrounding Hampshire’s decision not to fly the flag. Velis, a U.S. Army veteran, is calling on Lash to “put back those flags.”
In his email to the Hampshire community Friday, Lash said the conversation about the flag and how to best address “racist, misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behaviors” would be had while the flag is no longer flown on Hampshire’s main flagpole.
In a Tuesday letter to Lash, Velis argued that those discussions and “respecting veterans” are not mutually exclusive. “Do I need to remind you, Mr. President, that discussions surrounding these above groups would not even be possible if not for the sacrifices of our service members and veterans,” the Westfield Democrat wrote.
Letter from Rep. John Velis to Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash regarding U.S. flag by Newspapers of New England on Scribd
The flag controversy has received widespread attention from regional and national media outlets, was a trending topic on Facebook and Twitter and is the subject of an article on Snopes.com, a site which seeks to debunk or prove internet rumors and urban legends.
It’s true, Snopes wrote, though some outlets had claimed that Hampshire had instituted an outright ban on all flags – which is false.
Courtmanche said much of his energy in the last week has been devoted to debunking untruths that have been spread by some fringe outlets. There is no prohibition of flying flags at Hampshire, he said.
Some social media commenter suggested that Hampshire ought to not receive federal funds if it does not fly the flag and others referred to the students as “spoiled,” disrespectful or un-American. Some defended actions regarding the flag as symbolic free speech. Some pointed out that burning or removing the flag are Constitutionally protected symbolic free speech.
Hampshire College students want all American flags removed.
…but still want to accept grants & loans from American taxpayers.
Pick one.
— Taylor Egly (@TaylorEgly) November 23, 2016
Perhaps they should move campus to Saudi Arabia —> Hampshire College Stops Flying All Flags https://t.co/Cbf2uMKpa0
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 23, 2016
An outpouring of comments on Hampshire’s own Facebook page prompted the college to temporarily suspend the comment function through Thanksgiving break while staff are away and unable to moderate the page, according to the college.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com