Flag display causes ruckus at Holy Cross

Worcester Telegram & Gazette Staff ^ | Monday, October 01, 2001 | Emilie Astell

[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.”

[medic]

No, it's not- I think you're talking about Mount Holyoke. But they're both in Massachusetts, no big surprise there.

[Jefferson Adams]

I have no idea what Singleton's background may be but I do know that the Marxists, Socialists and Communists have been infiltrating our universities for decades. I imagine Singleton's agenda was set back a year or two by the events of 11 September.

And there you have the heart of the matter.

[Spiff]

Stephen C. Ainlay is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College and a Professor of Sociology. A member of the Holy Cross faculty since 1982, he received his B.A. from Goshen College (Goshen, IN) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ). Prior to his appointment as Dean of the College, Professor Ainlay served as Director of the College’s Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies. He also served as Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
http://www.holycross.edu/departments/dean/website/about.html

Stephen Ainlay Ph. D.

[VMI70]

(Wiping away tears)-You should be very proud!

FReegards,

[RaceBannon]

Both of my parents are from Worcestor. Makes me sick.

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

"...Royce Singleton, chairman of the college's Sociology Department, asked Mrs. Post, a secretary...to take it down...."

"Big Truth" contained in small fact.

"Sociology" is, by the way, a fake discipline which attracts men and women who would have, in another age, become flim-flam men and barkers at county carnivals.

[OldFriend]

Thanks, it is doubtful that there is a liberal arts college in the country that doesn't have people who despise the flag.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

I KNOW A PLACE MR.SINGLETON CAN BE ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER SUBVERSIVES AND I WOULD BE COMFORTABLE.A CAMP!

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

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

You don't have to say anything Prof. We understand all too well....

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you, my friend. You posted the information I was looking for a nanosecond before I posted my request for it.

I made good use of the links you provided. Here is the letter I just sent to the good Professor, since he seems to specialize in the wrongs of "group think."

Dear Professor Singleton,

I have just read on the Internet the story of your taking down a flag that an employee of Holy Cross had brought to work, in honor of her friend Todd Beamer, who lost his life saving the lives of others.

Before writing this note to you, I read your biography. It seems to me that you are imposing the views of the small group you are a member of, the Sociology Department of Holy Cross, upon others. I would expect that you would find the words to explain why you did what you did.

While you are at it, you may find the words to apologize to a lady who was honoring the memory of a friend and hero, who gave his life for his country as surely as any man or woman who has ever died on the battlefield. The American flag is a symbol of the sacrifice that all such women and men have made, as surely as the row on row of marble crosses and Stars of David, in graveyards across the world.

I look forward to hearing your response.

John Armor, former Professor of Political Science
Member of the Bar of the US Supreme Court

Post Script: I also know a litle about attitudes of "us" versus "them." One of my seven books to date was Manzanar about the internment camps in which we incarcerated Japanese-Americans without charges or trials , in World War II. We are at war again, and the tolerance of Americans of those with whom they disagree and differ, is again going to be sorely tested. I urge you to reflect on that subject before you reply.

Congressman Billybob

[kcvl]

[Mr.E]

Sent him one ,,,, Polite even.....

[CedarDave]

There's a reason "PhD" means "piled higher and deeper". :>)

[Rudder]

Gee, anniegetyourgun, you sound just like a stupid bigot--I sure hope you are not one.

You must have enough sense to know that all Ph.D.'s are not alike, nor are all lawyers, MD's or women.

[hellinahandcart]

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

There's a reason you're at a loss for words, Mr. Singleton--your actions weren't justifiable.

"Social context"? Don't make me laugh. Professor vs. secretary is a workplace context, not a social one, and you were not equals. You knew that when you took her flag down, bully.

[AmishDude]

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.

And you peons will be much better off when you realize it. Mwahahahahaha. :)

Actually, there are keys to look for when you see a loony lefty professor.

1. Professor of Sociology -- what is that, anyway? "The study of society"? Any syndicated columnist is a sociologist. Any jerk on a barstool is a sociologist.
2. Lecturing outside of his/her expertise -- if you are a prof of, say, psychology or English, your opinion on public policy or politics is no better than anyone else's. I don't let people call me "Doctor" or "Professor" when I'm not in a teaching mode or when I'm discussing things other than math.
3. Can't pass calculus -- it's a real bugaboo of mine, I have students in my undergraduate class who are leagues more intelligent than most Ph.D.'s

I wonder what this emotional professor has on his office door?

[goodnesswins]

"Royce Singleton, chairman of the college's SociologyDepartment".....

SOCIOLOGY - there.....that might explain it!!!!!! Keep your kids away from the socialists

[PhilipFreneau]

Many of the 50ish Professors of Sociology, Psychology, Economics, and Political Science were Vietnam War Draft Dodgers. Shortly after they war there was such a glut of those easy-to-obtain PhD's, many of them were pumping gas.

[Faraday]

In the coming cultural and political struggle, I would happily take Mrs. Post and give the opposition the Sociology Department. The phantasm of the academic charlatans is going to evaporate. Solid patriotic secretarys have much more to teach than the anal retentive America-hating professors.

[hellinahandcart]

Is this the same college that had a professor write a book that was full of lies about Thomas Jefferson and also told countless lies about his military career in Viet Nam?

I'm pretty sure that was Mt. Holyoke. Joseph Ellis.