On Thursday, in light of the rally, VSU President William McKinney ordered all but essential campus operations to be shut down on Friday. Only VSU students were allowed on campus, and small groups of them milled about during the rally.

Childress said he was pleased with how the rally went.

“I want to thank a lot of folks because this was a peaceful event, as it should have been,” Childress said. “I hope this demonstrates across the country that you can protest, you can rally peacefully.”

Many students said the current situation over the American flag was being blown out of proportion and causing unnecessary drama on campus.

One such student, Reggie Williams, senior international business major, said the rally participants were getting too worked up.

“Their taking (Eric Sheppard’s) message, and they’re flipping it, and they’re making it more than it actually is,” Williams said. “I think he stated the truth. He stated there’s no justice for the Black man. I don’t believe that the American flag is for Black people; it doesn’t represent Black people.”

Sheppard, a VSU student, is one of the protesters who walked on the American flag, and he showed up at another flag support protest on Monday, debating for hours with students on racial issues, saying he saw white people not as friends, but enemies.

On Tuesday, police found an abandoned bag on campus that contained a gun, and police said they undoubtedly linked the gun to Sheppard. An arrest warrant is now out for Sheppard, who is still at large.

Tyler Daniels, senior religious studies major, was throwing a football on the Front Lawn with some friends during the rally.

“I’m just out here watching, just seeing what happens,” Daniels said. “As an American, I’m proud of my country, although there’s issues within the system. I’m glad to be in a country where we can protest and be able to share opinions and bring light to issues that need to be discussed.”

Daniels also said the protesters who walked on the flag didn’t accomplish anything.

“Because (they walked on the flag), most people don’t realize what they were even trying to advocate,” Daniels said. “Their approach didn’t get their point across. It’s upsetting that they…used that to gain attention instead of (bringing) awareness to real issues.”

During the rally, a group of African-Americans held a large American flag in their hands. One of those people, Ormaz Jones, sophomore dentistry major and U.S. Army member, said he wanted let people know the current situation is not about race.

“We came out here to support the flag,” Jones said. “I serve, I have friends that serve, and people before me have served, and my friends…we’ve respected the flags since kindergarten. We’re just showing everybody it’s not a racial (matter).”

Many students said they want the tumultuous occurrences of the past few days to end so the campus can return to normal. The hashtag #WeJustWantOurDegrees has been used in the past week by some VSU students who feel the current situation is disrupting their studies.

“When did our campus become everyone’s political stomping grounds? #WeJustWantOurDegrees,” one user said on Yik Yak, an anonymous social media app.

Dr. McKinney said normal campus operations will resume on Saturday.