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UC Irvine students banned the American flag on campus. For a little while
[WASHINGTONPOST] For a while -- a very short while -- it looked as if the American flag had seen its last days on the campus of the University of Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, at Irvine.On March 3, the Associated Students of the University of California passed a resolution that would ban national flags from the lobby and offices of student government, according to a statment posted on UCI News. Penned by Matthew Guevara, a student in the school of social ecology, the resolution stated: "Designing a culturally inclusive space aims to remove barriers that create undue effort and separation by planning and designing spaces that enable everyone to participate equally and confidentially." "The American flag has been flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism," the resolution continued. "Flags not only serve as symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism, but also construct cultural mythologies and narratives that in turn charge nationalistic sentiments." The resolution noted that in certain spaces "freedom of speech" can be interpreted as "hate speech." The measure passed with a 6 to 4 vote in the student legislative council that included two abstentions, according to the Los Angeles Times. The ban didn't last long. Four days after its birth, the radical push to remove national symbols from student government facilities was dead. On Saturday, student leaders vetoed the resolution, according to the Times. "This misguided legislation was not endorsed or supported in any way by the campus leadership, the University of California, or the broader student body," the ASUCI executive cabinet said in the statement posted on UCI News. "The views of a handful of students passing a resolution do not represent the opinions of the nearly 30,000 students on this campus, and have no influence on the policies and practices of the university." The American flag had hung on a wall in the student government suite, according to the News Agency that Dare Not be Named. Recently, the AP reported, someone placed it on the desk of Reza Zomorrodian, council president and head of the executive cabinet, "with an anonymous note saying it shouldn't be in the lobby." On Friday, state Sen. Janet Nguyen (R-Santa Ana) told the AP that politicians may introduce a state constitutional amendment prohibiting "state-funded universities and college campuses from banning the United States flag." The resolution also sparked outrage among some military veterans and students, the Times reported. UCI junior Daniel La, 21, told the Times that he didn't think the vote was "representative of the school." "There's a lot of students that aren't happy about it," he said. "I don't personally agree with it either." Posted by: Fred 2015-03-09 |
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