To the Flag Advisory Committees:
I had hoped to correspond with you before my decision was made public, but the intrepid journalists at the Campus Times scooped me, so this note will come as no surprise. Nevertheless, I want to formally respond to your recommendations, thank you for your service, and present a little of my thinking on this complex matter.
Taking your recommendations into account, the University will discontinue the flag display in the Hirst Lounge. The use of flags as a signifier of global engagement creates too many opportunities for confusion and conflict in a geopolitical reality that is increasingly fluid. The University of Rochester is not the United Nations, which places limits on its membership and places political entities and geographic regions into different categories. We are an institution that welcomes all in the pursuit of knowledge and in the service to society. And although the international flag display was originally intended to signify our global diversity, it unfortunately became a focal point for controversy, as we all know too well. A display that was intended to celebrate instead created division and distress. Indeed as was outlined in your report, over the course of the last ten years, numerous committees were formed to try to resolve issues that caused distress among our university community about which flags were displayed, how they were displayed, etc.
As a University of global consequence, however, I think it is important to find ways to acknowledge our globally diverse community – not just in the Hirst Lounge but everywhere on our campus. Later in the semester, I will establish a Presidential Commission, made up of students, faculty, staff, and alumni from around the campus, to solicit proposals for creative ways in which we can accomplish the flag display’s original intent and celebrate the University’s global diversity in ways that are representative, inclusive, and respectful. My hope is that an open process, instead of a top-down directive, will provide an opportunity for the campus community to provide collective direction.
And speaking of top-down directives, as this situation unfolded over the last few years, it is clear that the administration did not always act in a way that was transparent, and did not always fully consider the voices and views of all stakeholders before acting. I take full responsibility for that, and for that I apologize.
I also regret that it has taken so long to complete this effort, but who knew when I charged the first committee that your deliberations would be interrupted by a global pandemic!
Given the strongly held – and often conflicting – opinions of many members of our University community, the work of the two Flag Advisory Committees was especially challenging, and
I want to thank you for your extraordinary service under sometimes fraught circumstances. Your final report reflects both hard work and thoughtful consideration, and for that I am deeply grateful.
Meliora,
Sarah C. Mangelsdorf
President and G. Robert Witmer, Jr. University Professor
Committee report