Amid controversy, US college decides not to fly American flag

Amid controversy, Hampshire College, located in Amherst, Massachusetts, has decided it will not fly the U.S. flag at this time, reports CNN.

The decision comes after an as yet unidentified person or group burned the flag displayed on the campus, notes WBZ.

That incident was preceded by controversy over the college allowing the flag to rest at half-mast in the days following the election.

See images of protests following the election:

On Monday, Jonathan Lash, the president of the college, released a statement, which reads in part, "Some months ago, the Hampshire College Board of Trustees adopted a policy of periodically flying the flag at half-staff to mourn deaths from violence around the world. Last week, in the current environment of escalating hate-based violence, we made the decision to fly Hampshire's U.S. flag at half-staff for a time...This was meant as an expression of grief over the violent deaths being suffered in this country and globally, including the many U.S. service members who have lost their lives...Unfortunately, our efforts to inclusively convey respect and sorrow have had the opposite effect."

Lash added, "Some have perceived the action of lowering the flag as a commentary on the results of the presidential election – this, unequivocally, was not our intent."

Lash further noted, "After some preliminary consultation with campus constituents...we decided on Friday that we will not fly the U.S. flag or any other flags on our college flagpole for the time being. We hope this will enable us in the near term to instead focus our efforts on addressing racist, misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behaviors."

Notably, the resolution does not impact the students' rights to fly U.S. flags, reports CNN.