Post 9-11, everything changed, except at a tiny Hesston College.

After the terrorist attacks, many waved the American flag as a show of support for the country.

But the Mennonite-based school of nearly 500 students about 35 miles north of Wichita held true to its tradition of down-playing symbols, including patriotic ones.

That cost the school dearly during the just-completed legislative session.

Lawmakers fighting over hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts and taxes found time on several occasions to scold the school and try to withdraw state financial aide that some Hesston students receive.

Eventually, the Legislature approved a provision in the budget that is probably unprecedented in the volumes of Kansas laws.

The provision would have diverted $500 from the legislative mailing account of Rep. Carlos Mayans, R-Wichita, for Hesston to buy a flagpole, ostensibly to fly the Stars and Stripes.

Mayans, a native Cuban who came to Kansas as a young boy, offered the amendment, saying, “When I see the American flag, I see freedom, I see the American way of life. I don’t see religion or war.”

Gov. Bill Graves on Friday vetoed the Hesston flagpole provision, but his veto pen hasn’t eliminated the controversy.

‘Tin soldiers and Nixon coming’

Generally, Mennonites came to the United States in search of religious freedom and the freedom not to serve in the military. They are considered pacifists who praise actions and straightforward talk rather than symbols of any kind, be they religious or nationalistic.

At one time, Hesston had a flagpole and flew the flag on it. But that changed after May 4, 1970, when four students were killed by National Guardsman during an anti-war protest at Kent State University.

After the incident, the flag was taken down at Hesston because it was seen by many students as a symbol of U.S. militarism, according to the current president of Hesston, Loren Swartzendruber.

A few days later, the flag was raised again after the college put together a statement that the banner could be seen as a symbol of freedom, Swartzendruber said. But later, administrators had second thoughts and believed the flag on the flagpole would probably be a continuing source of irritation among students.

“During the summer, the president at that time took down the flag simply to not cause future protests,” Swartzendruber said.

Some reports of the period say that the flagpole was then taken down by anti-war protesters, but Swartzendruber, who has been president of Hesston since 1994, said that was not the case.

“The flagpole was never maliciously destroyed. Someone unbolted it as a prank. Seven years later, a new plaza area was built in front of the administration building and now there are plantings and a sculpture where the flagpole was standing,” he said.

Perhaps what happened to the flagpole, and whether Hesston flies a flag, wouldn’t be issues except for a 1939 state law.

Flag etiquette, use and display

Passed by the Legislature as the country anxiously watched war breaking out around the world, the law required private or parochial schools to fly a flag of the United States in accordance with a list of instructions adopted by the State Board of Education.

Hesston officials say they satisfy this requirement with an American flag that hangs from a horizontal bar suspended from the ceiling of the campus cafeteria, along with flags for each country in which a student has originated.

The school’s legal counsel, David Burns of Newton, recently issued an opinion that states, “Your flag display conforms to the etiquette rules mandated by the State Department of Education and by Congress.”

But a legal opinion by the Kansas attorney general’s office has left the matter up in the air.

“We, however, are not privy to all the information available to the legal counsel regarding the actual physical features of Hesston College. We therefore are not able to determine whether the manner of display utilized by Hesston College meets the statutory requirement,” the opinion said.

Freedom from flagpoles

But to state Rep. Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, Hesston’s lack of a flagpole is protected by the freedoms the flag is supposed to represent.

McKinney said Mennonites don’t have to prove to him that they are patriots. Mennonite immigrants, including his great-grandfather, developed red wheat and made Kansas the world’s breadbasket, he said.

And just last month, Mennonite groups were the first in his area to help clean up damage caused by a tornado. “That’s a better statement of patriotism than flying the flag,” he said.

Of Hesston, he said, “This is a college where they emphasize to their students, public and community service, and just because they don’t exercise the same political expressions, doesn’t mean I should take a shot at them.”

But some lawmakers said if Hesston, which is affiliated with The Mennonite Church, U.S.A., doesn’t want to fly the U.S. flag on a flagpole, that’s fine. But they shouldn’t receive any state funding.

Students at all colleges in Kansas, including independent schools, can apply for state financial aide.

Students at Hesston received among the least amount of dollars of state aide  about $173,000 in the last fiscal year, according to state figures.

“If you are wanting state and federal dollars, you need to be willing to follow the law and the strings that come with it,” state Rep. Bob Bethell, R-Alden, said.

In his veto message, Graves said “it is poor public policy for the Legislature to intrude on the rights of private institutions.”

But, he added, if the Legislature believes a private college should not receive state student financial aide because it fails to adequately display the flag “then the Legislature should take appropriate action to withhold funding.”

Swartzendruber said he was unsure what Hesston would do in light of the legislative efforts to put a flagpole up at the two-year college. He said the school’s board of overseers would meet in July to discuss the situation, and that it was likely lawmakers would revisit the issue next year.

“We certainly love our country. We choose to express that through actions,” he said.