Davidson’s Ukraine Flag and The Question of Responsible College Reactions To Politics

By Stephen Walker '26

February 9, 2024

         The war in Ukraine had become a permanent story by the time I arrived at Davidson. Everyone knew about it and saw the same viral stories from time to time. There was an expert on the situation who came to campus to speak last semester, but that was an academic event and the issue as a whole has largely failed to deeply penetrate campus culture these last two years. Over this period, right beneath the American flag on Davidson’s flag pole flew the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag, an unwavering symbol of support for the far-away country. As I returned this semester I found the flag had vanished. No statement had been put out. No reason for the disappearance was made apparent to anybody. The stars and stripes fly alone again.

          The problem I see with an institution like Davidson making statements as clear as flying another country's flag with our own is twofold. Davidson is a place dedicated to courageous intellectual inquiry meant to prepare students for lives of substance. But when the school leaves this symbol of clear support for a faraway war waged in an environment much different from our homeland, it sends a message to students about what types of opinions are acceptable and what types are not. Rather than allowing students to engage in research and dialogue with one another to uncover the truth about the matter, they are told by this symbolic gesture to conform to the whims of those favoring war. Whims that many believe don’t seem to benefit either us or this faraway nation at all and which don’t reflect the conflicted public opinion of the voters who grant our leaders their power. There is also the question of respect. It is standard for flags of different nations to be flown on different poles. Clumping these nations together demonstrates a blatant disregard for the tradition of respecting the sanctity of our flag and the sovereignty of the flag of another nation whose flag flies below ours. This message of disrespect for our own traditions and disregard for the complexity of international conflict is not one which allows students to better prepare for lives of “leadership and service.” This stunt set the tone for blind acceptance of authority and an embodiment of the values of the hive mind rather than encouragement for students to form unique, nuanced opinions.

 Could this flag have come down sooner should students have questioned the motives of the institution? Should they defy a clear symbol of authority in their lives? No one wanted to find out what that would lead to and all resorted to the silence which has become a standard response in times of political uncertainty. When Davidson takes clear political stances it makes students uncomfortable with asking tough questions and having uncomfortable but important conversations. No one knows why the flag came down, and the problem the stunt posed will likely never be addressed and the message it implanted in the minds of those it affected will never be undone.

 Going forward, will other flags be put up? Last semester, students raised flags and other symbols of support for Palestine. They were all taken down almost immediately. What about a Trump, Biden, or Kennedy flag? I doubt any of those would make it that long. When the college makes political statements with its flagpole it's acceptable. When students make political statements meant to stimulate conversation it’s not. In the future instances of students following the school’s example, will Davidson invoke its vague exceptions clause to allowed speech and expression which outlaws all things deemed to be “otherwise directly incompatible with the functioning of the College ''? It would be a clear double standard should the college be allowed to make and retract extremely public and symbolically significant political statements while students get silenced for following its lead. I was disappointed they put the flag up in the first place, but even more so when it went down in the quiet of December break without a hint of acknowledgement from anybody. 

Stephen Walker is a class of 2026 Political Science and English Double Major at Davidson College.