Post by University of California, Irvine.
Exactly six students are to blame for the University of California Irvine “flag ban” non-troversy that has been blowing up the internet for the past few days.
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News broke over the weekend that the public school and its student government had passed a resolution to ban the American flag on campus and outrage promptly ensued. But it turns out that those reports didn’t quite tell the full truth.
The Associated Students of the University of California, Irvine Legislative Council, essentially a sub-committee of the full student government, passed a resolution last Tuesday 6-4 to ban all flags –including the American one — from being displayed in the lobby of the student government offices, according to the office of the chancellor.
The resolution, which was written by student Matthew Guevara,stated that “the American flag is commonly flown in government public service locations, military related entities, at homes, in foreign lands where the US government has a presence,” and its “symbolism has negative and positive aspects that are interpreted differently by individuals,” the local NBC affiliate reported.
The Executive Cabinet of the student government vetoed this subcommittee’s actions on Saturday, according to the school’s website, calling it “misguided legislation.”
UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman also released a statement on the vote-that-meant-nothing after receiving thousands of negative social media posts and fields calls from hundreds of angry alumni after the story went national.
“I applaud this action [the veto] and am proud of the members of the Executive Cabinet, as I am proud of the many other students who made sure that their opposition to the original effort was clearly heard on this campus and around the world. Special thanks are owed to a member of our outstanding ROTC program, who volunteered to stand guard over the disputed flag while this issue was being resolved,” Gillman said in a statement.
“We are an institution created by the world’s greatest democracy in order to serve this democracy, and we feel privileged to be able to serve the cause of freedom and progress under the American flag. Our ROTC presents its colors at our most important events. Before too long we will see even more Stars and Stripes at UCI, as we add additional flagpoles near the campus entrance on Bison. Make no mistake: the American flag proudly flies throughout the University of California, Irvine, including outside my office window, and will continue to do so.”
They may just be six students out of a school of nearly 30,000, but it’s good to know that in America, every voice counts.
