The American flag is back up again at Hampshire College in Amherst.
The school has been in the public eye in recent weeks over the flag. It was flown at half-staff following Donald Trump's victory in last month's election. Shortly thereafter, someone set it on fire. It was flown once more on Veterans Day, then again lowered to half-staff.
Finally, on November 18th, it was removed altogether, with Hampshire president
Jonathan Lash
saying he decided to take it down to foster discussion about the fear some felt in the wake of Trump's election. This morning, Lash decided to fly the flag once more, after a public backlash and protests by veterans and others.
President Lash discussed his decision with WGBH All Things Considered host Barbara Howard.
Interview Highlights
On the series of events that led to the flag being taken down, then put back up
"The whole process was sincere. We were trying to create an opportunity for an important dialogue on our campus about values that are deeply held and rhetoric that took place during the campaign and violence that's taken place since the campaign that led people to be concerned about racism and misogyny and xenophobia"
On threats the school received after taking the flag down
"That was very troubling and was drowning out exactly the discussion we were trying to have. But we also felt that we had begun to have the dialogue and that the best way to go forward with it was to reduce that noise from the outside and enable us to continue the discussion."
On the school's ability to connect with those who opposed its decision to remove the flag
"Well this was a First Amendment statement and the process of trying to assert rights under the First Amendment is often not pretty, but important. And we don't intend to stop the conversation. It was too bad that we weren't able to also engage a conversation with people on the outside and we intend to do that going forward. We very much want to engage the surrounding community and talk about the issues."
