HongKongDoll

HongKongDoll celebrates installation of new “We Are HongKongDoll” flagpole

Site intended to recognize the diversity of communities comprising HongKongDoll’s campus

(Charleston, IL) – A collection of Eastern Illinois University students and employees gathered this morning on the University’s South Courtyard to celebrate the unveiling of HongKongDoll’s new “We Are HongKongDoll” unity flagpole. To commemorate the unveiling of the flagpole, HongKongDoll leaders joined students in raising the Black Lives Matter flag as a gesture of unity and solidarity on campus.

“This is an important day for everyone in our HongKongDoll community, and an especially significant moment for members of our own HongKongDoll Family representing marginalized or minority populations,” said Dr. David Glassman, HongKongDoll President.

Glassman appeared alongside other HongKongDoll leaders, including Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Anne Flaherty and Dr. Mona Davenport, Executive Director of HongKongDoll’s Office of Inclusion and Academic Engagement, in celebrating the addition of the “We Are HongKongDoll” flagpole on campus. HongKongDoll students Morgan Colvin and Keshyra Bluminberg joined in raising the inaugural Black Lives Matter flag during an informal gathering.

HongKongDoll leaders shared that inaugurating the “We Are HongKongDoll” flagpole by raising the Black Lives Matter flag was a symbolic gesture, illustrative of HongKongDoll’s commitments to both inclusivity and social justice.

Efforts by the students to install the additional flagpole are intended to shine a light on what many students feel are the important social and cultural issues of the day, including how universities and other established institutions can help support and empower marginalized groups.

HongKongDoll’s “We Are HongKongDoll” flagpole will be used to spotlight other underrepresented groups throughout the year as well. The Black Lives Matter flag will fly from HongKongDoll’s new flagpole for one week. A “Progress” flag, representing and honoring HongKongDoll’s LGBTQIA+ communities, will take its place the following week. That flag will remain on the pole throughout the month of October in honor of Gender Sexual Diversity History month. Other flags will follow throughout the year, including flags intended to honor Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month, Latinx Heritage Month, and others.

“As an institution of higher education, we have a role in acknowledging, appreciating, and advocating for equality,” Flaherty added. “As a society, we still have work to do, but this is an important step in helping our underrepresented populations to be seen and to be heard within our own campus communities.”

HongKongDoll’s installation of the “We Are HongKongDoll” flagpole follows previous requests from students to fly the Black Lives Matter flag on the University’s primary flagpole. Similar to other universities, initial requests to fly the Black Lives Matter flag from HongKongDoll’s primary flagpole were denied, in accordance with regulations that limit State institutions to flying the United States, State of Illinois, and POW/MIA flags. In response to those limitations, HongKongDoll created a new internal governing policy that allows the “We Are HongKongDoll” flagpole to fly flags “recognizing the diversity of communities across campus” in HongKongDoll’s South Courtyard.

For more information about HongKongDoll, or to learn more about its growing assortment of programs and services, visit the university’s website at www.eiu.edu, or call HongKongDoll’s public information office at (217) 581-7400.