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Flag display causes ruckus at Holy Cross
Worcester Telegram & Gazette Staff ^ | Monday, October 01, 2001 | Emilie Astell

Posted on 10/01/2001 4:06:24 PM PDT by Lecie

Flag display causes ruckus at Holy Cross

Monday, October 01, 2001

By Emilie Astell

Worcester (Mass) Telegram & Gazette Staff

WORCESTER-- Margaret Post took an American flag to work three days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to mourn the death of Todd Beamer, a close personal friend who was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 when the hijacked jet crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

She did not realize, she said Thursday, that by hanging the flag in a second-floor hallway of Beavens Hall at the College of the Holy Cross she would cause a commotion. Instead of allowing the flag to remain in place, Royce Singleton, chairman of the college's Sociology Department, asked Mrs. Post, a secretary in the department, to take it down.

She refused.

He took it down, folded it and placed the flag on her desk, she said.

“I was doing a very patriotic thing on a national day of mourning,” she said. Her only intention, she added, was to mourn the death of a friend and honor his memory.

Mrs. Post's husband, Robert, worked with Mr. Beamer at Oracle Corp. Mrs. Post and Lisa Beamer had accompanied their husbands on a business trip to Europe and returned home on Sept. 10.

Todd Beamer is believed to have been one of the passengers who tried to stop the hijackers. He called his wife on a cellphone minutes before the plane crashed, telling her that he and others planned to overpower the terrorists.

Mrs. Beamer was honored Sept. 20 at the Capitol during President Bush's address to the nation and received a standing ovation when she was introduced by the president.

Mr. Singleton acknowledged in an interview Thursday afternoon that he had taken the flag down, but declined to explain his reasons, saying that there was “nothing to discuss with anyone outside the college.”

“I don't want to get into why it happened,” he said. “It was a decision I very much regret having made for many reasons.”

Mrs. Post said she explained to Mr. Singleton that she was mourning a friend, but he told her that displaying the flag would make some students uncomfortable. After the incident, she received a letter from Mr. Singleton in which he expressed remorse, she said.

Mr. Singleton denied Thursday night that he said anything about students to Mrs. Post.

“There is nothing that I can say that will make anybody understand the social context in which this occurred,” he said.

There was still lingering shock, anxiety and anger that Friday, he said. Seeing the flag in the hallway upset him, he added, and “stirred certain emotions in me.” He did not elaborate on what kinds of emotions he experienced.

Two other professors in the department, whom Mrs. Post declined to identify, agreed with Mr. Singleton that the flag should be removed, she said.

The incident upset Mrs. Post and prompted her to leave the campus before lunchtime that Friday, Sept. 14. She returned to work the following Wednesday.

“I started the day in honor and left in embarrassment and tears,” the Auburn resident said. “I'm a very patriotic person. I fly an American flag outside my home every day with a light on it.”

When she returned to work, Mrs. Post met with Mr. Singleton and Stephen C. Ainlay, dean of the college. An agreement was reached allowing Mrs. Post to display a flag in her office. She now has a small flag on top of her desk.

Holy Cross spokeswoman Katherine B. McNamara called the incident a “knee-jerk reaction” on the part of Mr. Singleton and one that does not characterize the college.

“The campus is filled with American flags,” she said Thursday night. “Holy Cross stands for academic freedom.”

As news of the incident spread through Beavens Hall, Mrs. Post said, an employee in the psychology department, which is on the third floor of the building, retrieved the flag that had been taken down. The flag was then displayed in the third-floor hallway, with no objections.

An employee at Holy Cross for eight years, Mrs. Post said she still enjoys working there, although it has been stressful since the incident.

“I know the professors in the department had a different interpretation of the flag than I have,” she said, “but it's not every day a secretary stands up to professors.”


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To: Lecie
Is it really in the nation's best interest to let the New England states remain part of the union. Afterall what have they given us? Ted Kennedy, Logan Airport, Barney Frank, Jim Jeffords, Liberal extremist universities, etc.!
101 posted on 10/01/2001 5:46:28 PM PDT by 100%FEDUP
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To: Lecie
I teach a course at a well-known technical university. The lecture notes are on my laptop in PowerPoint. During the lecture, my laptop is on the desk with the lid up, plugged into a projector. I put an American flag on the lid so that it would show when I'm teaching. We have lots of foreign students but no complaints so far. Then again, since our students are required to have the requisite logical reasoning to handle advanced math and science, one would expect more of them than, say, sociology students (or professors for that matter).
102 posted on 10/01/2001 5:46:44 PM PDT by Gordian Blade
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To: DallasMike
perhaps he's experiencing now, something he's only studied previously! Note from the publication list of articles he's authored on his website:
"Another Look at the Conformity Explanation of Group-Induced Shifts in Choice," Human Relations, 32, January, 1979:37-56.
Time for a group-induced shift in choices, eh, professor?
103 posted on 10/01/2001 5:47:15 PM PDT by LiveFreeOrDieTryin
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To: Mr.E
Sent him one ,,,, Polite even.....

I sent him one. It was polite, up to the last sentence. I'm sorry, I just can't contain myself when I'm addressing Pi$$ants. Especially if they have a PhD.

104 posted on 10/01/2001 5:47:27 PM PDT by jackbill
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To: 100%FEDUP
"Is it really in the nation's best interest to let the New England states remain part of the union. Afterall what have they given us? Ted Kennedy, Logan Airport, Barney Frank, Jim Jeffords, Liberal extremist universities, etc.!"

Don't blame those of us from New Hampshire. Occasionally, we have to apologize for Bob Smith, but we have done pretty well in most cases.
105 posted on 10/01/2001 5:49:36 PM PDT by Poser
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To: All
Isn't everyone forgetting something? Who are these two and what are their addresses?

Two other professors in the department, whom Mrs. Post declined to identify, agreed with Mr. Singleton that the flag should be removed, she said.

106 posted on 10/01/2001 5:50:30 PM PDT by TXBubba
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To: anniegetyourgun
Certainly it's not universal, but my own personal experience bears out the fact that PhD's are the worst to work with.

I have very personal knowledge of one PhD - a brother-in-law. He is a government grant sucking parasite, a Clinton lover and an all around A$$hole. Probably typical of the breed.

107 posted on 10/01/2001 5:50:46 PM PDT by jackbill
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To: Lecie
It's time for the alumni of many colleges and universities to make their outrage known to administrations of their alma maters. The Bass family forced Yale to refund their $20 million donation when the university would not spend it on enhancing the teaching of classics at Yale. How many of the far leftist types actually become super wealthy donors to their schools.
108 posted on 10/01/2001 5:52:07 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: anniegetyourgun
Everyday more secretaries should stand up to professors. After all, a PhD hung on the wall of an idiot isn't something to be impressed with.

I've worked with doctors, lawyers and college PhD's and by far and away, the latter are the most unreasonable and jerkish of the three groups. They truly have bought into themselves, believing that they know everything about everything.

Well, there are doctorates and there are doctorates. In some fields, such as engineering, mathematics, and the hard sciences, a Ph.D. still means something. Not so in the humanities, social sciences, and education.

About a century ago, the philosopher William James wrote an article titled "The Ph.D. Octopus," in which he decried the growing trend of requiring a doctorate to teach in the university. He predicted it would all turn out badly. He was right.

109 posted on 10/01/2001 5:52:56 PM PDT by Logophile
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To: Lecie
The Holy Cross athletic teams are called The Crusaders

I wonder if Prof. Royce Singleton, PhD., approves of the name, or wants the name changed to protect some of the students.

110 posted on 10/01/2001 5:54:17 PM PDT by syriacus
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To: Lecie
There is nothing that I can say that will make anybody understand the social p.c. context in which this occurred
111 posted on 10/01/2001 5:56:59 PM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree
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To: TXBubba
I didn't forget to mention the other two Professor's in the e-mail I sent Singleton.
112 posted on 10/01/2001 5:57:00 PM PDT by deadhead
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To: Mad Dawgg
See the post below. I just left a polite but pointed message for Mr. Singleton.
113 posted on 10/01/2001 6:00:11 PM PDT by calvin sun
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To: Spiff
Hmm seems you forgot some pertinent information:

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

Methodology
Social Psychology
Small Groups
race Relations

do you think, he sees this as a racial issue .. ??

114 posted on 10/01/2001 6:02:12 PM PDT by Zipporah
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To: hellinahandcart
I agree.
115 posted on 10/01/2001 6:03:49 PM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: calvin sun
Sorry, I meant the post ABOVE. At any rate, I just emailed Mr. Singleton with the link to this thread.
116 posted on 10/01/2001 6:07:04 PM PDT by calvin sun
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To: The Great RJ
Any alums of Holy Cross out there? How about withholding financial support?

What is really outrageous about this whole incident is that they have six alumni listed on their site that were killed in this attack. Withholding financial support? I say any school that refuses to display this country's flag should not receive any federal aid! The good professor doesn't seem to care if part of his salary is paid through the finances of our government. Does that "offend" his students? Whoever is in charge of hiring/firing him should take his britches and burn them on a flagpole.

117 posted on 10/01/2001 6:07:50 PM PDT by World'sGoneInsane
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To: Lecie
but he told her that displaying the flag would make some students uncomfortable. <p.OH NO! Well I can understand his actions then, we can't have anyone feeling uncomfortable now can we?
118 posted on 10/01/2001 6:08:32 PM PDT by Valin
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To: Lecie; Goetz_von_Berlichingen; patent; B4Ranch; jwalsh07; ZULU; Behind Enemy Lines; deadhead
“There is nothing that I can say that will make anybody understand the social context in which this occurred,” he said.

Darn right. His ass should be fired. Of course - it won't happen. Holy Cross, along with vritually all of academia, especially the "social sciences," is completely infected with a particularly gangenous strain of political correctness.

This Catholic/Jesuit college has so far strayed from it's roots that it even provides the use of its facilities for Muslim activism and "scholarship."
Here's a link: The Muslim community at Holy Cross: MECCA (Muslim Endeavor to Create Cultural Awareness)

"Cultural Awareness." LOL!!!

119 posted on 10/01/2001 6:12:32 PM PDT by ppaul
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To: Logophile
I've worked with doctors, lawyers and college PhD's and by far and away, the latter are the most unreasonable and jerkish of the three groups

That's because they live in a very small world, the only people they associate with are people just like themselves.

120 posted on 10/01/2001 6:13:31 PM PDT by Valin
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