"A free society demands a vigorous clash of ideas," Kerrigan says, explaining her lectures.

Kerrigan is quick to add, however, that she did not hang the flag as a media stunt. "I don't think anyone could have predicted the amount of publicity I got," she says.

"I believed that what I did was for the greater sake of American education," she said, "[by forcing people] to grapple with ideas they don't like to confront."

Even with her full schedule of speaking engagements, Kerrigan says she has been quite busy with law school.

"Studying the law is the best way to help me understand American political institutions," she says, adding that she is planning legal advocacy, not politics, as a career.

Despite being "persecuted" at Harvard, Kerrigan had positive things to say about her alma mater, lauding President Neil. L. Rudenstine's open letter which followed Peninsula's issue on homosexuality last fall.

Still, Kerrigan she has rediscovered her place in Virginia.

"It's great to be back in the South," she says.

She said that the issue that brought her into the spotlight at Harvard is a complete non-issue at home.

"I see Confederate flags every day. They hang near the corner grocery store and in fraternity windows. It's not that striking to see down here."