OXFORD, Miss. — Five years after the University of Mississippi stopped flying the state flag on campus, a group has an idea about what flag should fly.
Forward Mississippi requested that Ole Miss raise the hospitality flag, also known as the Stennis flag, on campus.
According to WHBQ-TV, Ethan Booker is the group’s chairman and a law student. He said it’s time for Ole Miss to act first and set an example.
According to Booker, the resolution outlines what the university needs to do and the actions that need to be taken, and explains that this was the flag that the student body chose.
The Law School Student Bar Association backs their effort.
“The Stennis flag, or hospitality flag, is a flag that unifies Mississippi and brings people together versus dividing folks, as our goal is to get the university to raise a flag that unifies people rather than divides them,” Booker said.
Booker shared some of the symbolism in the flag, including the 20 stars marking Mississippi as the 20th state in the union. A large star is in the middle.
“We are talking about a service star,” Booker said. “Mississippians believe in service to their country, and the background of white, which represents spirituality or possibility, and then the red on the flag, which represents the bloodshed that Mississippians have had over the years from various wars. It is truly a representative flag of Mississippi.”
Booker said the time for Ole Miss to act is now.
“We are to be the catalyst for change by raising the hospitality flag and showing the state leaders that we are ready for change, that we want to push forward,” Booker said.
WHBQ contacted the university for its response to the effort but has not yet heard back.
Cox Media Group
