Students protest for right to fly flags

Lena Badr, president of the Students for Justice in Palestine and the secretary of the Arab Student Association, says she can always count on George Mason University’s diverse population to stand up for student rights. And when Badr and her peers from the SJP, ASA and Kurdish Student Organization gathered on the North Plaza last Tuesday to protest and get students to sign a petition for Palestinian and Kurdish students’ rights to fly their flags during International Week, things were no different. Approximately 320 students signed the petition.

“That’s the best part of this campus,” said Badr, a government and international politics major. “It’s beautiful to see people coming together from all different walks and all different backgrounds.”

At the end of March, new I-Week flag policies were set in place that only allow flags of countries listed on the immigration documents of Mason students to be displayed in the Johnson Center. Palestine and Kurdistan’s flags do not meet those standards.

Several Student Government senators also took on the cause, proposing “a resolution to include all cultural groups represented by Mason students in the displaying of flags during International Week on campus,” which unanimously passed in the Student Senate last Thursday.

However the new flag guidelines, which were based on “earnest discussion among students, faculty, staff and administrators,” are here to stay according to Kathy Trump, associate dean of International Education and Programs.

“I doubt that [the policy] will be revised,” Trump said. “The guidelines that have been written were written with much careful thought and were approved by the administration and we think they’re the best we can do.”

Trump also said that even countries that are allowed by the policy to hang their flags in the Johnson Center do not always receive that privilege due to limited space.

Students hail from approximately 135 countries and there is only room to hang 81 flags in the Johnson Center. That means 54 flags from countries that meet the I-Week flag policies will not be flown.

“Even if the guidelines allowed [Kurdistan’s] flag to be displayed, there would be no guarantee it would be displayed,” said Trump. “The list is rotating and there will be different flags every year so that every country does eventually have the opportunity to have its flag in the Johnson Center.”

In the future, Trump says other venues, such as Mason Hall, will be looked at as possible locations to hang flags so that all 135 countries’ flags can be flown.

Some of the students at last Tuesday’s protest felt that the fact that the university’s Confucius Institute receives funding from China has something to do with the new flag policy.

“No matter how much money they put into the school…we don’t stand against their rights and we’re hoping they won’t stand against ours anymore,” said one of the demonstrators, Alan Muhealden, a systems engineering major.

On the “Mason Bans Flags Representing Recognized Student Organizations” Facebook page Rizhna Chener, president of the Kurdistan Student Organization claims the policy is based on “fears that recognizing non-states…would inflame the Chinese embassy and by extension the Chinese government, which donates a significant amount of money to the university.”

In a prior interview with Broadside, Trump disputed these claims.

“The best interests of our entire campus community, in all its amazing diversity, were kept in mind as we worked to craft the flag guidelines,” she said.

According to Badr no more protests are currently planned in order to respect the celebration of cultures during I-Week.

“We do want to honor the diversity and the coming together of the events,” said Badr.

Even though Kurdish and Palestinian students cannot have their flags flown in the Johnson Center, Trump says they are encouraged to display their flags and cultures at today’s Opening Ceremony and Celebration as well as other I-Week events.

Students from the KSO and SJP plan on marching with their countries’ flags during the opening event.
“There are many opportunities for our flag to fly high, it would just be nice if the faculty could join us in doing that,” said Badr.

“We really want the international students to feel welcome,” Trump said. “The Kurdish students have such a strong tie back to their Kurdish roots and we really want them to feel they can display that.”

Broadside Copy Chief Monika Joshi contributed to this report.