OXFORD, Miss. — The controversy surrounding the state flag of Mississippi came to a head this week in Oxford as students and faculty debated whether or not it had a place on the unviersity’s campus.
On Thursday, the faculty senate voted overwhelming to send a resolution to higher ups asking for the flag to be taken down.
This vote came just days after the student senators voted and passed the same resolution.
On Tuesday, students supporting and opposed to the resolution voiced their opinions before their peers.
Ole miss students voting on their opinion to remove the flag from campus but they don't have the right to decide. pic.twitter.com/EAprlAgF89
— Wayne Carter, NBC 5 (@WayneNBC5) October 21, 2015
The resolution author said popular opinion doesn’t matter, and if it did segregation would not have ended when it did.
They went on to say social issues about what’s right can’t be based on majority vote. If that were the case, slavery wouldn’t have ended when it did.
Sponsors of the flag removal resolution say the kkk came to campus advocating segregation pic.twitter.com/5SE4RtgAmV
— Wayne Carter, NBC 5 (@WayneNBC5) October 21, 2015
However, some students voiced their opposition to the resolution.
They said at the end of the day, the flag stands for heritage and not slavery.
At the end of the night, the student body passed the resolution to send the request to authorities higher up.
Student body president issues statement says there is a need for change and this would propel the university forward
— Wayne Carter, NBC 5 (@WayneNBC5) October 21, 2015