Time to stand back, take a deep breath

Randy Lewis

Last Saturday, UC Irvine celebrated its 39th commencement.

Approximately 6,000 students were awarded degrees -- the largest

graduating class in the history of the university.

Hundreds of participating students chose to adorn their

commencement robes with festive regalia. Included in this colorful

display were braided cords, medallions, tiaras, balloons, feathered

boas, serapes, U.S. Marine Corps sashes, fraternity and sorority

letters, an image of the Lady of Guadalupe, and flowers -- thousands

of flowers -- most of them fragrant leis.

As reported widely in the media, about 30 students (0.5% of the

graduates), who are members of the Muslim Student Union, wore green

stoles. Each stole bore Arabic script on one side that read, “There

is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger,” and on the other

side read “God, increase my knowledge.” The students stated that the

stoles were an expression of faith and a call for unity and that

similar stoles had been worn last year without incident.

Due to a barrage of media attention and misinformation, these

green stoles with white Arabic script brought national attention to

the UCI campus. The reaction of some was that these stoles with their

Arabic calligraphy represented something so vile that the university

was obligated to either ban them from the ceremony or, at minimum, to

issue a statement denouncing them as hateful.

They suggested that the script contained subtext or could be

interpreted to suggest a linkage to the terrorist group Hamas. Others

went so far as to label UCI’s commencement as “graduation jihad” and

the stoles as “suicide sashes.”

After careful review and considerable consultation, Chancellor

Ralph Cicerone in a letter to faculty, students, and staff made it

clear that UCI “is a public university with people from diverse

backgrounds who enjoy the rights and protection of the 1st Amendment.

Our history includes the free expression of political and

nonpolitical ideas, no matter how controversial.”

These rights are regarded as vital to the university. They are a

hallmark and strength of all great educational institutions.

And while at times some may perceive these rights as tested --

even abused -- they are rights our Constitutional fathers meant to be

broad and lenient. Indeed, it has often been said that the 1st

Amendment is intended to protect the least popular of thoughts, not

the most popular.

Many dismissed the controversy that played out at UCI as a

“tempest in a teapot.” They said it was a war of words or, perhaps, a

contentious clash of semiotics. I would suggest that this issue is

symptomatic of a larger enigma.

The Israeli-Palestinian controversy, and how it has been portrayed

in the media, has polarized people to such an extent that the

embroidered script on a graduation stole can serve as a lightning rod

for controversy.

When misunderstandings reach this level, it is time to step back

and take a deep breath. Yes, it is often extremely difficult to

respect different opinions, or to realize they may contain a measure

of truth. But the ability to listen to often-unpalatable opinions is

the cornerstone of a democratic society.

If we are to go beyond the current standoff (whether in the Middle

East or at UCI), people on both sides of this controversy need to

abolish two things from their seemingly entrenched positions: that

they alone understand the problem and that the other side is dead

wrong.

* RANDY LEWIS serves as executive associate dean of students at

UCI. He has worked closely with student leaders and student

organizations for over 30 years and has assisted in coordinating

numerous UCI commencement programs.