AMHERST — Controversy over the fate of the American flag at Hampshire College appeared to be fizzling out this weekend, despite some lingering tension in Amherst on Sunday.
After Hampshire College administrators announced Friday that they would once again raise the flag on the flagpole in the center of campus, a rally to celebrate the American symbol outside the school was called off, according to a press release from organizer Victor A. Nunez Ortiz.
“We are doing this as an act of faith. In order for us to move forward peacefully as Americans, we must show signs of peace, Patriotism and gratefulness,” Nunez Ortiz wrote Saturday in a post on the rally’s Facebook page. “In light of all that is happening in our country, there are other areas that need our attention where the flag is being disrespected and mistreated. Once again, thank you Hampshire College for doing the right thing; and especially like to thank all #RaiseOurFlag supporters that have stood by Old Glory.”
The rally for Sunday was planned initially as a further protest to pressure the college to fly the flag. As of Saturday afternoon, 354 people had said they planned to join the rally.
On Nov. 27, some 400 people gathered with American flags at the entrance to Hampshire College to protest the decision by college President Jonathan Lash to remove the American flag from the center of campus Nov. 18 in the wake of the presidential election.
Still, on Sunday, protests and counterprotests over the flag hadn’t totally died down.
Ralliers in favor of flying the flag organized a “convoy” to travel from the Whately Diner in Whately, south on Route 116 toward the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to Amherst College before ending at Hampshire College.
On Facebook, just over 200 people RSVP’d to join the convoy, and an organizer wrote afterward that the event was executed without any problems.
“I didn’t hear one single negative comment from the people I dealt with,” wrote Kris Gobeille in a Facebook post, who said he helped organize the event.
Meanwhile, counterprotesters scheduled their own rally on the Amherst Common to coincide with the convoy’s roll through town, organizers of that event said. More than 100 people RSVP’d on Facebook, but an organizer said 150 showed at its peak.
Amber Cano-Martin, of Amherst, and Patrick Burke, of Holyoke, both said the rally wasn’t for or against the American flag, but a defense of Hampshire College’s ability to decide what it does with it as a private institution.
“I don’t think any groups should be bullying them into raising it,” Cano-Martin said.
“Hampshire has really been under siege,” Burke said of the national spotlight on the school and its students.
Cano-Martin said the only sparks between the two groups on Sunday occurred when about 20 counterprotesters walked across a crosswalk continuously for about 5 minutes, clogging up the convoy and causing at least some of the cars to reroute.
She said the police did a good job with crowd control. Amherst police refused to comment on crowd size or whether there were any arrests.
Earlier in November, the flag had been lowered to half-staff and later burned, in an apparent reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.
The controversy drew attention from outlets including Fox News and CNN, and ignited a debate over freedom of speech.
When the flag was returned to the Hampshire campus Friday morning, the planned flag rally was rebranded as a celebration by organizers. At a press conference outside the Amherst VFW Friday afternoon, Nunez Oritz said the rally would still happen.
However, Nunez Ortiz said Saturday event organizers changed their minds. The protest was canceled in hopes of fostering relationships and discussion with Hampshire College students and Amherst residents, Nunez Ortiz said in the press release.
Gobeille said he spent $400 to arrange a Hampshire County Sheriff escort earlier this week. He wrote on Facebook that he is accepting donations to cover the cost, and plans to give any additional donations to VFW Post 754 and the Wounded Warrior Project.