By Lisa Kaczke
Artie Ellis has always had an American flag at his house.
“At my house, we fly 37 flags on holidays,” said Ellis, a lead superintendent in Building Services for nine years.
After September 11, Ellis requested for one of his personal flags to be hung from the railing of the second floor of the Curry Student Center because he said he felt it was the appropriate thing to do. The flag, meant to be temporary, became a permanent fixture in the student center for two and a half years until it went missing April 3.
Workers in the student center didn’t even realize it was missing until April 4 because everyone was so used to having it there, Ellis said.
“Someone asked ‘Where’s the flag?’ and I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding,'” he said.
The 10-foot by 15-foot flag was reported missing to the Northeastern Police Department that morning, one day after police believe it was allegedly stolen, said James Ferrier, associate director of public safety.
The theft occurred on a weekend when the student center was the location of several events, said Bob Grier, director of operations in the student center.
Officers interviewed several staff members and students who work in the student center, but there are currently no leads, Ferrier said.
Grier described Ellis as a dedicated university employee, and said he is heartbroken that his flag was stolen.
“We can’t believe someone took it,” Ellis said. “It’s just a shame that it was taken. It’s a part of our building. It doesn’t belong to just me. It belongs to everyone.”
Vinny Mitchell, the employee in Building Services who hung the flag, couldn’t believe someone would take it. Mitchell had two cousins who worked in the World Trade towers, and both survived the attack. Mitchell said the flag held a strong meaning for those who remembered September 11.
“I feel sad that someone took the flag. The flag means a lot to us,” Mitchell said.
Ellis said he thinks young people do stupid things sometimes, and said he doesn’t know what someone would do with a flag that size.
“It’s like a challenge. It’s there,” Ellis said.
Grier said the flag was a testimony to how much Northeastern employees cared about those lost during the attacks.
“He put it up in the student center to bring solidarity and sympathy with the September 11 victims,” Grier said. September 11 was not an event that affected only New York City, he said, but also touched students and staff at Northeastern.
Staff in the student center have made efforts to recover the flag. Curry Student Center Operations sent an e-mail on April 15 through myNEU to announce its disappearance and to appeal to the “integrity and patriotism” of Northeastern’s community, Ferrier said.
“We look forward to once again, proudly displaying our flag in the Curry Student Center,” the e-mail said.
Since the flag went missing, an exact replica has been hung to replace it. The new flag has been draped from the second floor railing more securely, Grier said.
Ellis would like his flag returned, although he is humble about it.
“It’s not the worst thing in the world. [September 11] was the worst thing in the world,” Ellis said.
Whoever has the flag can leave it somewhere in the building, Ellis said, such as the scheduling desk on the third floor of the student center, with no questions asked, because it’s not worth getting in trouble for, he said.
“It’s more the meaning than the flag,” Ellis said.
Student center staff asked that anyone with information about the flag contact either the student center’s administrative office or public safety, according to the e-mail.
