Students Start Petition to Fly Black Lives Matter Flag on EIU Campus
Jarad Jarmon, Patagraph, October 11, 2018
An online petition drive is underway to get a Black Lives Matter flag flown on Eastern Illinois University’s campus in February during Black History Month.
Morgan Colvin, an Eastern student, created the online petition, The Daily Eastern News reported.
According to the petition on the care2 petitions website, this would be in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Morgan Colvin
“It is addressing police brutality and demonstrating EIU’s true diversity through giving African Americans a voice,” the petition reads. “This is something that would be beneficial to students and faculty on this campus making it inclusive for everyone.”
Colvin and others are calling for the flag to raised on the flagpole between Andrews Hall and Lawson Hall, The Daily Eastern News report reads.
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The university would not be the first institution of higher education to fly the flag, should officials grant the request. The University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt., flew the flag upon request from student government on that campus, according to a report from the Burlington Free Press in Burlington, Vt.
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This is the second time conversations of race have been raised relatively recently on Eastern’s campus. Last year, Eastern’s Faculty Senate called on the university to look into changing the name of Douglas Hall, which referred to Stephen Douglas, a pro-slavery candidate for U.S. Senate, in recognition of the famous debate between Abraham Lincoln and Douglas in the earlier political career of the country’s 16th president.
