by Junior Caleb Young
When students visit Bryan College, they are instructed that the school adheres to the Community Life Handbook which can be amended only through the decision of the President and the Board of Trustees. Recent controversy requires scrutiny concerning the following question: Should college policy always follow this handbook which provides for amendment only through the decision of the above body.

Junior Caleb Young proudly displays his Confederate flag
The controversy began with the display of a flag in a Long dormitory window facing the Latimer Student Center. After being removed at the express demand of its Resident Director, it was subsequently placed in a window in Long dormitory overlooking Woodley-Ewing Dorm. For a second time, the flag was censored and no longer hangs in the window due to the insistence of the Resident Director. When pressed for a justification, he replied that all flags were being removed at the direction of the Office of Student Life to circumvent any potential offense to faculty, students, or visitors at Bryan College.
Yet, when contemplating the changes to the statutes in the Bryan College’s Community Life Handbook, this semester has witnessed the reversal of a previous Bryan policy concerning piercings for male and female students. This shift demonstrates an increased respect for the expression of diverse cultural customs on the campus. The Board of Trustees, the Vice-Presidents, and the President received wide acclaim from the students when they elected to reverse almost eighty years of tradition by allowing this form of expression.
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