UCI controversy may call for a more uniform solution

At UCI this week, the debate about free speech and the 1st Amendment

raged as some 30 graduating Muslim students decided last week to add

a stole to their caps and gowns that bore the shahada, words that

they say are a testament to, and symbol of, their Islamic faith.

It was the same stole that graduating students wore last year, and

the Muslim Student Union said the choice of clothing will become

traditional at future graduations.

But we have to wonder if it is not time for the university to

change the rules on what is appropriate graduation clothing and avoid

further clashes of cultures down the road.

In the recent case, pro-Israeli organizations, along with several

Newport-Mesa residents and even the Orange County chapter of the

Anti-Defamation League, loudly spoke against the stoles bearing the

shahada because of its apparent alignment with terrorist groups.

Muslims, however, say it’s no different than Christians wearing a

crucifix or Jews a yarmulke. UCI Chancellor Ralph Cicerone issued a

statement, quickly after the debate went to a national level, siding

with free speech.

“UCI is a public university with people from diverse backgrounds

who enjoy the rights and protection of the 1st Amendment,” he said in

a letter to faculty, students and staff. “Our history includes the

free and peaceful expression of political and nonpolitical ideas, no

matter how controversial.”

Cicerone made the right decision to not get caught up in the media

frenzy and make a rash decision to disallow the stoles. He was also

right in choosing to side with the 1st Amendment.

Cicerone’s letter, however, could mean that someone who wanted to

paint a swastika on his or her gown or wear a Ku Klux Klan hood,

would be protected by the same 1st Amendment. Thus UCI, would be

forced to allow it.

As we see it, the easiest way to avoid such controversiesis to

make the graduating uniform what it is -- a uniform.

Don the cap, wear the gown and end it there.

It might not allow the creative student in the architecture

program to turn his cap into a skyscraper, but it will ensure that

graduation stays off “The O’Reilly Factor” and restore the real pomp

and circumstance the graduates deserve.