Photo by Mahika Kukday | The Crow’s Nest
By Alisha Durosier
Nearly eight months after the international and gender identity flags once housed in USF St. Petersburg’s University Student Center (USC) were removed, students have started a petition calling on the university to put the flags back on display.
Circulating online and physically across campus, the petition was published on Feb. 26 by “Students For Expression at USFSP.”
The petition has since collected about 200 signatures, more than halfway to its target of 300.
With USF St. Petersburg’s student population of approximately 3,000 students, 300 signatures in support of the flags’ return would represent 10% of the student body.
According to one of the petition’s authors, USF St. Petersburg student government (SG) Governor Elise Prophete, ensuring that even 10% of the student body’s voices are heard is a notable achievement.
“We’re already really close to that goal,” Prophete said. “As we continue to push it more, we can get 500, maybe 1,000, to show that people really do care about the issue.”
The international and gender identity flags were installed as a part of a 2018 SG initiative. They have been a point of contention at USF St. Petersburg since July 16, 2024, when USC employees were told the flags had to be removed after “visitors raised questions about them,” according to a statement made to WUSF.
“We have temporarily removed all flags until we can convene a group of students, faculty and staff to solicit their input on all aspects of the renovation during the fall semester,” a university spokesperson told The Crow’s Nest in July 2024.
By December, after the flags were not reinstated nor was a group formed to provide input on the matter, Prophete alongside a group of students started formulating a plan.
Within that same month, Prophete entered the Young Leaders Civic Action Program organized by the non-profit Democracy House.
“I knew, in the past, people wanted to do something about [the flags’ removal], and I wanted to make sure I had the resources to actually make it happen,” Prophete said, noting that her experiences in the program have shaped both the petition and upcoming initiatives.
Once the petition reaches or exceeds its goal, next steps would include presenting it to USF St. Petersburg Regional Chancellor Christian Hardigree, who previously stated at the Feb. 4 SG student town hall that the flags will not be reimplemented as long as SB 100 is being discussed in the Florida Legislature.
The Florida bill would prohibit “governmental entities,” including public universities, from displaying flags that represent “a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint.”
Prophete said she understands that the university has to comply with state and national policies.
“But the flags specifically… there is no legislation in place currently that says we cannot have those flags,” she said. “So, if we can’t get these flags back, just via a petition, we will not have our voices limited or silenced.”
To that end, the group aims to explore various ways to push back on the university’s decision to keep the flags down, including compiling students’ stories, poems and art into a zine.
“We still want this despite hearing no again. We’re not going to hear no a third time,” Prophete said. “If we do hear no a third time, we’re not going to accept.”
