Pledge of Allegiance controversy

Orange Coast College’s student vice president said Monday that she will order the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited at all upcoming meetings, following a decision by the student government representatives last week to remove the pledge from their agendas.

During public comment at Monday’s board meeting, Sage Michael, a friend of student Vice President Christine Zoldos, asked all interested patrons to join him in saluting the flag. Roughly two thirds of the crowd stood and recited the pledge, while the remainder sat in silence.

Zoldos, who cannot attend Monday meetings because of a scheduling conflict, said she had sent Michael on her behalf and would enlist a friend to lead the pledge for her on Mondays in the future. The board meets twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday afternoons.

“I look at the pledge as a unifying symbol,” Zoldos said. “You’re not pledging allegiance to the government or God; you’re pledging allegiance to the republic that was created by the constitution. We live in a world of divisional multiculturalism, and we’re all united by the flag.”

When three of the four student trustees voted to eliminate the pledge from agendas last week, they noted that the words “under God” went against some students’ beliefs. Zoldos said that she interpreted the wording differently.

“It says we’re created under God, but it never says you’re pledging allegiance to God,” she said.

At the Monday meeting, student body President Lynne Riddle distributed a press release that accused Zoldos of blowing the controversy out of proportion. Upon hearing of the pledge decision at the Nov. 6 meeting, Zoldos invited a reporter to attend two days later. The president argued that Zoldos could have raised her concerns before the meeting, although Zoldos said she had not read the agenda in advance.

Riddle, who used the word “controversy” sarcastically in quotes throughout the release, said the dispute over the pledge had brought unwelcome attention to the student board.

“The harm has gone well beyond the targeted ‘un-American’ students,” the statement read. “It’s spilled over the college and the district, as well; both being held accountable for coddling a student government of hypocrites, left-wing nuts, freedom-haters and, very likely, ‘commies.’”

OCC President Bob Dees, who was among those rising to say the pledge on Monday, declined to offer an opinion on the trustees’ vote, but said he viewed it as democracy in action.

“I think these are just students who are questioning their own beliefs and values,” he said. “The positive thing is that they saw this as a place to do it.”