Controversy Over a Confederate Flag at the University of Rochester

confederate-flagA student at the University of Rochester displayed a Confederate flag in the window of his dormitory room on campus. After a controversy and debate erupted on campus, a house adviser told the student, who is from North Carolina, to take down the flag. An email from college administrators to the campus community, stated that the student had taken down the flag voluntarily after discussing the issue with fellow students. However, the administration later learned that the student had been instructed to take it down. The administration also stated that the house adviser was wrong to demand that the student take down the flag.

In a post on a student Facebook page, the sophomore from North Carolina said that “I am not a racist. I do not discriminate.” He went on to say that he would no longer display the flag knowing that it was offensive to some of his fellow students, but he added, “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have the right to put it up.”

African Americans make up about 5 percent of the 5,900-member undergraduate student body at the University of Rochester.

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