Capital University is home to students from over twenty countries. Nowhere on campus, however, is there a space that celebrates this diversity by displaying the national flags of these student’s native countries publicly as is done at many other universities in our area, including the University of Akron, Ohio Dominican and Ohio Wesleyan.
The flag of the United States is also noticeably absent from many major buildings on campus.
This has not always been the reality at Capital University. For years, Blackmore Library featured the native flags of all the university’s international students in addition to the American flag. It was only after the library was renovated in 2012 that these flags were removed.
While the roughly $1.3 million renovation significantly modernized Blackmore, which had not received any updates since its opening in 1970, the flags that had been displayed in the building were sacrificed in the new decoration plans. Also, while it is common for libraries that receive government funds to display the American flag, Capital’s library has also not displayed this flag for four years.
Unquestionably, Capital University wishes to celebrate our campus’ diversity. What better way to visually represent our community’s support for all our students than by returning to the tradition of proudly displaying the flags of our international students publicly in the university library?
In addition to giving these students a small reminder of their homes, a public display of these flags could be a prominent talking point during campus tours by serving as a way to let potential students know diversity is embraced at Capital University. This display would declare to visitors from the community that, at Capital, all students are accepted, no matter what their national origin may be. The American flag is also important to display publicly as it symbolizes patriotism, an important value for many Americans.
For these reasons, it is time to restore this campus tradition to Capital University.
