The University of South Florida St. Petersburg has removed all flags from the University Student Center, including a Pride Flag and Black Lives Matter flag, triggering outrage from some students. 

The instruction to remove the flags came on July 16. Skye Smith, the president of the school’s “PRIDE Alliance,” said she was contacted by the Office of Student Engagement, telling her that several flags would be removed “due to mandate [sic] from an external entity that received a complaint about these flags.”

The school’s Black Student Association claimed that the decision was made “following a complaint to the governor’s office.” However, Carrie O’Brion, a USF spokesperson, said the school received no such directive from the governor’s office, and that USF is only temporarily removing the flags while getting ready to renovate the student center building. 

“During our review, it was noted there was not a reliable or comprehensive process for selecting and rotating the flags in the USC. 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,” O’Brion said.