Over a hundred flags hang from the ceiling of the Student Alumni Union (SAU) — one for each country an RIT international student comes from and one for each Greek life organization on campus. They’ve been there since April 14, 1994, when the International Flags Project was begun as a symbol of the college’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Now they are set to come down before the next academic year.
“Removal is planned for the summer,” stated Sandra Johnson — the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs — in an email to the RIT population.
The flags will be replaced with a pair of installations intended to serve the same purpose. One installation will cover the international community on campus, and the other will cover the sorority and fraternity organizations. Each was created with the help of design and facilities teams and has had creative input from student members of either the Greek life or the international student communities.
The Fraternity and Sorority Life installation has already been completed and sits to the left of the Campus Center lobby entrance, replacing a group photo of first-year students that is taken every year. According to Courtney Bringley — Leader V of Student Residential Life — the new installation “features an updated visual design that highlights currently recognized organizations.”
Meanwhile, though yet to be completed, the international students’ installation is set to be located outside Ingle Auditorium. It will showcase the countries and territories of currently enrolled international students and be updated regularly.
Bringley explained, “Our goal is to honor the long history of the flag tradition while creating a system that is easier to maintain, adaptable over time, and better suited to the building’s future needs.”
In the past, Campus Life’s ability to keep the flag displays updated was limited by the need to shut down operations in the SAU during maintenance and rent a mechanical lift to reach them. These new installations will be easier to alter as student populations change, new countries are represented or new Greek life emerges.
Johnson stated, “The SAU flags will remain in place until both installations are complete.” From there, the flags will likely go to University Archives, which will be working with Campus Life in order to preserve them as relics of RIT’s history.
According to Campus Life, student flow through the SAU can be expected to continue as normal for the foreseeable future.
