Pa. Firefighter Asked To Take Down American Flag On Sept. 11

A Pennsylvania college student and firefighter says he was asked to remove an American flag he displayed Friday from his dorm window in honor of Sept. 11.

Zach Zechman, a senior at Alvernia University in Reading, said university officials asked him to remove the flag from his on-campus town home, citing rules that prohibit objects hanging from windows, NBC10 reported.

Attempts by Patch to reach Zechman were not immediately successful, but he shared his frustrations about this incident on his Facebook page, which also shows he is a firefighter with Amity Fire and Rescue.

A school spokeswoman confirmed Zechman was asked to remove the flag, but said it was done to keep in line with university regulations.

“The student Resident Assistants asked the student living in the unit to remove the flag from the outside of the building and then showed him the handbook reference related to displaying items on the outside of residence halls,” university spokeswoman Carey Manzolillo said.

Page 61 of the university’s student handbook states that “sheets, banners or other such objects may not be hung outside of windows or on the exterior portion of any residence hall.”

“Alvernia encourages students and all members of its campus community to display the American flag on 9.11 and all other days of the year in ways that don’t pose a safety risk and that are consistent with the policies of the university. In fact, you can find the American flag proudly on display in many locations throughout our campus including university buildings and student residences,” Manzolillo said.

Zechman said while he complied this time and took the flag down, he is attempting to arrange a meeting with the university’s Dean of Students to change the rules on future Sept. 11 anniversaries, NBC10 said.