UC Irvine Student Government Bans National Flags From

Campus Areas

March 6 (Reuters) - The student council of a southern California university passed a bill that would
ban the hanging of any national flag in the common area of student government offices, school
officials said on Friday.

The measure, passed by six undergraduates on the University of California at Irvine's student
legislative council, said that national flags bear a range of cultural significances that could be
interpreted negatively by some.

The resolution added that national flags - citing the United States flag in particular - have been
"flown in instances of colonialism and imperialism" and "serve as symbols of patriotism or weapons
for nationalism."

"Freedom of speech, in a space that aims to be as inclusive as possible can be interpreted as hate
speech," the bill said.

The Executive Cabinet of the school's student government will meet on Saturday to discuss vetoing
the bill, Associated Students of UCI President Reza Zomorrodian said in a statement.

"I stand firmly against this piece of legislation, though I understand the authors intent and
supporters intent, I disagree with the solution the council has come to," Zomorrodian said, adding
that the bill was not supported by campus leadership.

The Los Angeles Times reported that if vetoed, the bill would return to the legislative council where
it would have to be passed by a two-thirds majority to override the rejection.

A post on the university's Facebook page on Friday made light of the bill reading in part, "Contrary
to what you might be hearing, flags are still flying at UC Irvine," alongside a picture of the American
flag. Many of the more than 350 comments on the post decried the bill. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner
in San Francisco; Editing by Robert Birsel)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/uc-irvine-ban-flag_n_6821316.html