Ole Miss removes Mississippi state flag from campus

Ole Miss has removed the Mississippi flag from campus because it includes Confederate battle emblem.

The University of Mississippi has removed the state flag from its Oxford campus because the banner contains the Confederate battle emblem, according to the Associated Press.

“The University of Mississippi community came to the realization years ago that the Confederate battle flag did not represent many of our core values, such as civility and respect for others,” interim chancellor Morris Stocks said in the statement. “Since that time, we have become a stronger and better university. We join other leaders in our state who are calling for a change in the state flag.”

The Mississippi state flag, which was made in 1894, features a red backdrop with the Confederate battle insignia in the upper left corner along. A statewide vote in 2001 decided to keep the Confederate emblem on the flag.

More than 200 people participated in a rally calling to remove the flag from campus on Oct. 16. The event was organized by the university’s NAACP chapter.

The flag has come under fire after nine African-American worshipers were shot dead in a Charleston, S.C. church in June in what police said was a racially motivated attack. Shooter Dylann Roof had posted pictures of himself with the Confederate flag in the lead-up to the massacre.

Stocks has requested that the university’s flags to be sent to the school’s archives.

- Christopher Chavez