SC Senate introduces Resolution to direct The Citadel to remove Confederate flag from display

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Members of the South Carolina Senate on Tuesday introduced a Joint Resolution to direct The Citadel to remove the Confederate Naval Jack from display in Summerall Chapel.

The Confederate flag is one of 56 flags on display in Summerall Chapel.

According to the Resolution, the Confederate flag being displayed at The Citadel is not protected by the Heritage Act because it is “not atop the State House or on the State House grounds; is not a monument or memorial to any of the wars identified in the Heritage Act; and is not public property named after a historic person or event.”

In June of 2015, The Citadel’s Board of Visitors voted to remove the flag from Summerall Chapel.

As such, the Resolution directs The Citadel “to immediately remove the Confederate Naval Jack from its display in Summerall Chapel and is further directed to dispose of the Confederate Naval Jack in any manner as required by The Citadel’s Board of Visitors, provided that it is not displayed in any other place on The Citadel’s campus.”

The Resolution was referred to the Committee on Education.

The Citadel provided the following statement:

“The Citadel’s core values are honor, duty and respect. One of the fundamental principles of our core value of “duty” is to follow the law. The South Carolina Attorney General stated previously that the college was following state law by treating the flag as a memorial that falls under the Heritage Act. If the law changes, The Citadel will act in accordance with that change.”

Col. John Dorrian, USAF (Ret), vice president for The Citadel Office of Communications and Marketing.

State Representative Wendell Gilliard said that the removal of the Confederate flag is “a long time coming,” and that he “[welcomes] this coming to the House.”