The American flag can once again fly high at the University of California, Irvine.

Members of the Executive Cabinet of the Associated Students met Saturday for an emergency session over the university’s flag ban.

KTLA reports on a statement released on the university’s website:

“We fundamentally disagree with the actions taken by ASUCI Legislative Council and their passage of R50-70 as counter to the ideals that allow us to operate as an autonomous student government organization with the freedoms of speech and expression associated with it.

It is these very symbols that represent our constitutional rights that have allowed for our representative creation and our ability to openly debate all ranges of issues and pay tribute to how those liberties were attained.

We as well want to reaffirm our commitment to diversity as a campus in all aspects and ideals associated with it. The concept of inclusion and diversity is a core pillar in the mission of University of California system and we wish to continue to work to have these important discussions of what our campus is doing to make this a priority.”
No information was given on the breakdown of the cabinet’s vote, but the student President Reza Zommorrodian spoke with Fox News about the reversal:

“Our campus is patriotic and proud . . . We did something right for our campus.”
The ban really hit home for Zomorrodian, a first-generation American:

“‘That’s why the flag is special to me…I was born here. My parents came here as immigrants…This country has been great to our family,’ he said.”
The student government initially banned the symbol of American patriotism last week from a campus lobby, when student representative Matthew Guevara introduced legislation that called flags, in particular the American flag, “symbols of patriotism or weapons for nationalism.”

Guevara, and his supporters, have not been available for comment, per Fox News.

The school – which was officially not partial to the ban – also released a statement Saturday in response to the repeal:

“This misguided decision was not endorsed or supported in any way by the campus leadership, the University of California, or the broader student body. The views of a handful of students passing a resolution do not represent the opinions of the nearly 30,000 students on this campus, and have no influence on the policies and practices of the university.

The American flag is still proudly flying throughout our campus and will continue to do so.”
Previously, the school had tweeted the following from its official account:

Had the executive cabinet not interceded, the state government was prepared to take action.

On Friday, State Senator Janet Nguyen (R-Santa Ana) told The Associated Press that several legislators were considering a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit “state-funded universities and college campuses from banning the United States flag.”

https://www.ijreview.com/2015/03/265990-patriotism-lives-uc-irvine-school-reverses-controversial-american-flag-ban/