Faculty Outraged After BU Removes Pride Flags From Windows

Boston University removed pride flags from several campus windows during spring break, sparking outrage among faculty, WBUR reported.

The flags were hanging in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department offices and in two different professors’ offices, according to the student newspaper, The Daily Free Press, which first reported the story.

Nathan Phillips, one of the professors, told WGBH that he entered his office last Friday to find the rainbow flag he’d hung from his window folded up on a chair. It was accompanied by a note saying it had been removed “per university police” because it violated a campus policy prohibiting signs, posters or flags “displayed through outward-facing windows or doors.”

Liz Bettini, the other faculty member whose flag was removed, told The Daily Free Press, “I find it dispiriting that a symbol that is intended to signal to everybody that they’re welcome is being treated the same way as symbols of hate.”

In a letter to university president Melissa Gilliam, Joseph Harris and Mary Battenfeld, co-presidents of BU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, wrote that it was “profoundly sad and disappointing” to see administrators adopt policies that “contradict not only the university’s historical legacy and values, but that of the state and city in which its faculty and students live.”

University spokesperson Colin Riley told The Daily Free Press that individuals or groups found violating the signage policy are first asked to voluntarily take down their display and move it to an interior wall before staff do so themselves, adding that “policy enforcement is not an endorsement nor rejection of any point of view.” 

“We remain committed to ensuring BU is an inclusive, welcoming and supportive community, and there are many ways to express and demonstrate our values consistent with policies,” he said.