Alaska News

UAF chancellor orders Mississippi flag removed from 50-state display

The University of Alaska Fairbanks removed a Mississippi flag from a prominent 50-state display Monday, citing an ongoing national discussion about the meaning behind Confederate imagery.

The official state flag of Mississippi contains the stars and bars of the Confederate battle flag in its upper left corner.

UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers ordered the flag removed from the university's Cornerstone Plaza Monday morning. UAF spokeswoman Marmian Grimes said the removal was "appropriate in light of the national debate."

She said the university received no complaints about the flag.

The flag is the second Mississippi flag to be removed from display in Alaska in the last week. A flag was removed from a main Juneau thoroughfare Saturday after concerned residents petitioned for the flag's removal.

Other communities across the country have also taken down Mississippi flags. Calls to remove it come during a national debate over symbols of the Confederacy after a racially motivated mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina., killed nine people. Dylann Roof, who is accused of the killings, had posed for photos holding the Confederate flag.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner first reported the UAF flag removal.

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Grimes said it was too early to say what would replace the flag on campus.

Fairbanks is also home to another 50-state flag display along the Cushman Street Bridge. Julie Jones, executive director of Festival Fairbanks, said her organization, which places the flags along the bridge, had received no complaints about the inclusion of a Mississippi flag in its display. She declined to comment Monday on future plans for the flag.

Suzanna Caldwell

Suzanna Caldwell is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in 2017.

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