Changing locations doesn’t make it right. Update to this story.
Via Campus Reform:
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is condemning the University of Kansas’ “superficial” response to the controversy over a paint-smeared American flag flying over campus.
“I think it’s outrageous and inappropriate that a taxpayer supported institution would display a desecrated American flag using the excuse that it’s art,” Kobach told Campus Reform. “It is entirely inappropriate.”
After Kobach and Governor Jeff Colyer both demanded that KU remove the “art display,” Chancellor Doug Girod issued a statement Wednesday evening saying that the flag would be relocated to the Spencer Museum of Art, a publicly-funded building elsewhere on the same campus.
When asked about the flag being moved to another campus location, Kobach emphatically said “that’s not good enough,” pointing out that the flag would “still [be] on display.”
“It’s still a desecrated flag that the university is presenting to the public. Whether it’s indoors or outdoors is immaterial,” he said.
“The university leadership is supposed to be answerable to the Board of Regents, which includes appointees from the Governor,” Kobach continued. “Certainly the Board of Regents could compel the university to act, but I haven’t heard anything from them.”
Kobach also called the relocation “superficial,” arguing that there is no difference between displaying a desecrated flag indoors or outdoors.