GoFundMe raises $300,000+ for UNC students who protected American flag during protests

Harrison Grubb
·2 min read
13

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — A GoFundMe established in recognition of UNC students who protected the campus’ American flag during Tuesday’s protest raised close to $300,000 in the first 12 hours.

“When we went in, we said, we will not let the headline of this day be ‘An American flag falls at UNC,'” said freshman Jason Calderon, who was one of several students who held up the flag Tuesday.

Ongoing protests against the war in Gaza intensified on campus Tuesday. At one point, pro-Palestinian protesters replaced the American flag at the center of the quad with a Palestinian one.

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After university administrators brought a new flag, protesters tried bringing that one down as well.

“My friends and I looked at each other and then said, ‘we should go over there,'” Calderon explained.

Calderon and several of his fellow students worked to prevent the flag from touching the ground, all the while he says he and others were pelted with objects by protesters.

“So many Americans in history have fought for the ideals of justice and freedom that that flag represents, and who are we if we don’t take some water balloons and take some yelling and chaos to reap the benefits of what they’ve sown for American society,” he said.

The GoFundMe was established Wednesday, hoping to benefit fraternities whose members protected the flag. Around 9,000 people donated in the first 12 hours, raising well over a quarter of a million dollars.

“So many people are seeing that UNC is a beacon of light,” said Calderon.

On campus, work is being done to make sure it won’t happen again. While the flagpole was surrounded by two layers of fencing after the protests Tuesday, the university has now put in a higher and more fortified boundary around the flag.

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“It was really just inspirational for us to see everybody coming together and the chancellor coming in and saying, ‘as long as I’m chancellor that flag will stay up,'” Calderon said.

CBS 17 reached out to the fraternities named in the fundraiser but has not received a response yet.

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