The East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council voted down a resolution to support Chancellor Sean O’Keefe’s stance on the purple and gold Confederate flag Wednesday night. The resolution, introduced by District 3 Councilman Pat Culbertson, would have been a formal acknowledgment that the council agreed with the University’s position on the issue. O’Keefe has repeatedly said the University does not support and in fact discourages the use of the flag, but the administration cannot ban the flag because it is protected by the First Amendment. “Chancellor O’Keefe has had a difficult time navigating through this situation,” Culbertson said. “We can’t sit idly by during such an important issue. I believe his position is a sound one for the University, and I think we should stand by it.” Though many of the council members said they agreed with the statement O’Keefe has stood by since his first confrontation with the issue in April, they said it was not the purpose of the council to address the issue. “This isn’t the arena for this,” said District 10 Councilwoman Lorri Burgess. “Yes, it’s a difficult problem for the chancellor, but that’s what he gets paid for.” District 7 Councilman Byron Sharper said he thinks O’Keefe should be doing more to discourage the flag. “I think the chancellor should be out here making a stand,” Sharper said. “He should be out here saying ‘We’re not going to tolerate this.'” District 9 Councilman Darrell Ourso, who supported the resolution, said he thought the council needed to support O’Keefe’s stance because the freedom of speech is “enshrined in the two most important documents this country has: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” “The freedom of speech is one of our most basic freedoms,” he said. “I think we should support O’Keefe’s position.” While District 12 Councilman Mickey Skyring said he could not support the resolution. He said the flag is a controversial symbol that should not be used.
“I abhor the use of that flag as a symbol of intolerance and hate, but I cannot support this,” he said. “Let’s leave the issue out there. This is a problem the University has to deal with. We have our own problems to deal with.”
 
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