Black student leaders said they will not “march” to Tiger Stadium on Saturday in protest of the purple and gold Confederate flag on campus, but discussed an organized “walk” at an NAACP meeting Thursday night.
Chancellor Sean O’Keefe held a press conference Thursday morning to reiterate his disapproval of the flag, but black leaders said later at an NAACP meeting that O’Keefe only met half of their demands.
A group of students now known as the Student Equity Commission presented O’Keefe with three demands regarding minorities – a ban on the Confederate flag, funding for minority programs and more aggressive minority recruitment.
Collins Phillips, leader of the Student Equity Commission, said he will not lead a march to Tiger Stadium before the University of North Texas game on Saturday because of an agreement he made with O’Keefe.
But Phillips said O’Keefe had only met half of the first demand by holding a press conference to discourage the flag. The chancellor did not ban the flag as the group had asked, Phillips said, so the students will give the chancellor half of their part of the agreement – they will not organize a march but will hold a rally before Saturday’s game at the African American Cultural Center.
Michelle Gieg, Student Government president, said the chancellor told Phillips and others involved with the movement in a meeting earlier this week that he would prefer that students not march to the stadium on Saturday.
O’Keefe told The Daily Reveille there were no deals made between him and Phillips and that it was the students’ decision whether to put on “displays of expression” that he called “divisive.”
Katrice Albert, vice provost for equity and diversity, told students at the NAACP meeting that no pressure had been applied to Phillips to cancel the march, and that a larger concern about the protest movement was safety.
LSUPD Chief Ricky Adams said that LSUPD has not received any requests for protests on Saturday and campus security will not be increased.
Adams said the students who protested this past Saturday before the Auburn game had not filed a request to protest.
Phillips said the rally on Saturday in front of the AACC will be themed “Unite LSU.” Students of all races are welcome to come and discuss symbols they find offensive and express concerns about other campus issues, he said.
During the NAACP meeting some students discussed a possible “walk” to the stadium if students wished to display posters. Phillips and other members said they might walk around campus to show posters expressing their beliefs about racism on campus.
Phillips outlined how students were to walk – in groups of 10 with females on the inside – and emphasized that any student who could not deal with racism “in their face” should not come.
Justin McCorkle, Southern University Student Government Association president who attended the NAACP meeting, said the Confederate flag is a topic of conversation at Southern and that he is trying to educate students about the issue.
McCorkle said he is discouraging Southern students from joining the movement until they are fully informed on the issue.
Phillips said some students are concerned that members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be counter-protesting on campus Saturday and possibly creating a dangerous situation.
Chuck McMichael, commander of the Louisiana division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, told The Daily Reveille on Thursday night that he does not know about any organized protest backed by his organization.
McMichael said there are about 1,500 members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Louisiana and that there could be members tailgating on Saturday with the flag.
Paul Gramling, Sons of Confederate Veterans national chief of heritage defense and previous commander, also told The Daily Reveille that he does know of any protests but hopes that some members will organize to make a statement regarding their support of the flag.
“I think it’s very unfortunate that a group of a hundred students are taking it upon themselves to say what’s good or bad or how a thousand students should act or try to take Southern heritage away,” Gramling said.
Contact Ginger Gibson at [email protected]