The College will not alter its policy on lowering the American flag at this time, despite considering a change last week. In an Oct. 1 all-campus email, President of the College Maud S. Mandel wrote that the College will continue to follow all gubernatorial orders to lower the flag.
After the College implemented Governor Maura Healey’s order to lower flags to half-staff to mark the death of right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk, an unknown individual cut down the Chapin Lawn flag on Sept. 12. Amid the campus backlash to the lowering of the flag, Chief Communications Officer Meike Kaan told the Record that the College was considering changing its protocol for lowering the flag.
The College’s current protocol is to lower the flag only in response to gubernatorial orders and to automatically implement all such orders. When an order is issued, the governor’s office notifies Facilities, who lowers the flag without consulting with the administration. The gubernatorial orders are then posted verbatim in Daily Messages. “Williams will continue to follow the governor’s proclamations for the time being,” Mandel wrote. “Whenever the flag is lowered, we will publish a Daily Message linking to the state’s flag status page for details.”
The Minority Coalition (MinCo) Steering Board released a statement on Sept. 19 criticizing the College’s decision to lower the flag and calling on the College to revisit this longstanding policy of automatically implementing the governor’s orders.
“The MinCo Steering Board is deeply concerned about the intended lowering of the flag,” the statement reads. “MinCo Steering does not tolerate the further platforming of a white supremacist in death, as tragic as their death may be.”
Mandel defended the College’s practice in her all-campus email. “Although Williams is a private institution, we have long followed federal and state flag-lowering mandates, as do most other private colleges and universities,” she wrote. “It has been a common, well-understood practice, carried out consistently and in a nonpartisan manner.”
Mandel’s email acknowledged that the College’s flag-lowering protocol was previously not available online, creating uncertainty about the process. It is now documented on the Facilities policies website.
