Students at NSCC Ivany campus are frustrated about the college’s decision to remove its large flag display during the summer.
“If taking them down materially changed the lives of even one person, like that’s experiencing a conflict, I’d be all for it. But it doesn’t,” said Ellis Hoffman, a second-year environmental engineering student.
Hoffman considers himself a flag enthusiast and used them to talk to his classmates about global geography.
When Hoffman heard about the removal, he reached out to the then-principal of the Ivany Campus, Kathleen Allen, to share his frustration.
In an email to staff on July 29, Allen said that complaints about certain flags have increased, prompting the administration to reconsider the display and its purpose.
“There have been numerous incidents where this symbol of welcome has instead become a negative presence on campus for some members of our community,” Allen wrote.
The flag display was originally meant to recognize employees and students from different countries and cultures. Ivany Campus had the largest display of any NSCC campus with a collection of over 100 flags.
In an interview with CBC about the removal on July 30, Allen said that it was not one particular conflict that led to this decision.
Viya Kang said she felt uncomfortable when she found out the flags were taken down. Kang is a first-year student in the Child and Youth Care program. She’s from South Korea.
“I came here to believe [that] Canada is multicultural country, and … most people respect others like me,” she said.
Kang said her son’s high school has an international flag display which she sees as a symbol of diversity and acceptance.
Some students at Ivany said they understood the college’s decision, but felt more should be done to welcome international students.
Tristan Perri is a first-year student in environmental engineering technology.
He said the display may have superficially represented diversity without offering ways of critically engaging with global issues. To create a more welcoming environment on campus, Perri suggested offering cheaper tuition for international students.
“People might feel more welcome here if they didn’t have to pay twice as much,” he said.
Perri also said the college should have consulted students and been more transparent about the decision.
In her July email, Allen said there would be consultations about replacing the display in the atrium, but at the time of writing, students had still not received any communication from the college.