UC Irvine’s proposed ban on U.S. flag prompts threat of violence

The debate erupted on the Southern California campus with nearly 30,000 students when someone removed a U.S. flag that hung on a wall in a common area of the student government suite.

Six undergraduate members of the Associated Students legislative council then passed a ban on posting flags of any nation in the office lobby last week. According to CBS Los Angeles, a portion of the resolution reads: “(F)lags construct paradigms of conformity and sets homogenized standards for others to obtain which in this country typically are idolized as freedom, equality and democracy.”

A higher student panel vetoed it two days later amid condemnation from some veterans, state lawmakers and even Gillman, who called the original vote “outrageous and indefensible.”

In its vote last Thursday, the legislative council noted that the American flag has been flown in times of “colonialism and imperialism” and went on to say that “freedom of speech, in a space that aims to be as inclusive as possible, can be interpreted as hate speech.”

A higher student panel known as the executive cabinet vetoed the resolution Saturday. The cabinet called the resolution “misguided” and said it didn’t represent the views of the students on campus.

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