As “Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan played in the background, the lights began to shine, and from the back of the room, flags from various countries appeared, carried by John Brown University students to take the spotlight. The room became filled with tears of joy and longing as the students, faculty, and staff started to recognize the flags that represented them.
43 flags of different countries, plus those of the native American nations of the United States, waved down the JBU Chapel corridors. The flags reminded the JBU students of the rich diversity of the college’s student body and allowed them to identify the heritage of some of the members of their friend groups.
The ceremony gave students a medium to ignite deeper conversations, generate a greater understanding of their friend’s culture and traditions, and an opportunity to develop more profound friendships as it added a new dimensionality to the identity of their international and Native American counterparts.
Melissa Stevenson, a member of the international office, mentioned that “More honest friendships come with understanding heritage, as they allow the trust to form,” and referred to the purchase of the flags by the school as “a big investment.”
JBU’s significant investment is not limited to the purchase of the flags but expands to the time spent by the international and diversity office members planning this event. Ashley Bulgin, next to other members, spent weeks checking if the flags were in good condition, if the Native American flags were the correct ones and ensuring that the names in the presentation used to identify each country were written correctly.
Bulgin also mentioned that the event came with its own set of unexpected challenges such as people dropping out at the last minute. Still, she thought the ceremony was “very moving and very rewarding; it was great to see all the nations’ flags and the big enthusiasm from all the students.”
It also brought her nostalgia, reminding her of her time working for YWAM. Given that she, as many others of the event planners, are either internationals, have lived around people from foreign countries, or have lived abroad for a big part of their lives; they understand the sentiment seeing one’s own country or tribe flag may awaken.
The diversity represented by the international office and the office of diversity at JBU brought the idea of adding the Native American flags to the event, mainly coordinated by the professor of Visual Arts and keynote speaker of the ceremony, Bobby Martin.
The addition of the Native American flags made this year’s event unique.
“It is important that those nations are represented and included because they have their own sovereignty within the United States, and they were here before the United States existed,” said Seth Sears, director of the Walton Scholarship.
As he pointed at Arkansas on the map of the trail of tears during his chapel speech, Martin emphasized that the history of the Native Americans “is not the history that is remote to us, is history that happened right here where we are right now.”
This history makes an impact on the people present at the ceremony and reminds them of the importance of the ceremony itself, as it is the first where Native American flags were carried through the Chapel by the members of the tribes themselves.