Student Files Complaint Against 'Confederate Flag' Paint Job

By Rick Vail 

The emblem on the barrel of a cement-mixer truck led a student to complain that the image evoked the confederate flag, but school officials weren't convinced.

A black nursing student, who asked not to be identified by name, was walking to class on April 30 when she saw the truck, painted with a red stripe flanked by white stars in a blue border. The truck was pouring cement for the new parking area in front of the West building. “I was late for class and walking quickly when I looked up and stopped in my tracks,” she said.

“I said, ‘Oh my God,’ a confederate flag on a truck working on school property.” She continued on to her class. When the class took a break, she went to the campus security office to ask who she needed to speak to about registering a complaint.

They sent her to Alaysha Walker, Student Activities Coordinator. Walker gave the student her cell phone to take a picture of the truck.  Walker then directed her to Diane Lemcoe, Dean of Student Services. The student said Lemcoe was “baffled” when she saw the picture.

"It was difficult to tell what they intended it to be," said Lemcoe of the markings on the truck. "It didn't have the black stripes like a confederate flag but it didn't appear to be the usual stars and stripes either." She then notified John Trojan, Vice President of Finance and Facilities, about the incident.

“It is not a confederate flag,” said Trojan. "The company's name is American Redi-Mix. This is not an issue.”

A spokesman who answered the phone at American Redi-Mix Concrete Company said, “It’s the American flag.”  He would not identify himself.

The student was notified that the school did not believe there was any intent by the company to represent a confederate flag.

The student said the symbol on the truck was “eerily similar,” to the confederate flag. She reported what she saw because, “If I don’t open my mouth ─ who knows.”

She said she was disappointed with the schools’ reaction.