Following sharp criticism, Stanford University has reversed an earlier decision to prohibit the student-run College Republicans from using the American flag in the official logo of their association.
The university will now permit the College Republicans to print tee-shirts with their new logo, which features a charging elephant superimposed on an American flag with the words “Stanford College Republicans.”
E.J. Miranda, Stanford’s senior director of media relations, said that the move to allow the College Republicans to use the flag in their logo reflects rethinking of university policy that banned the use of flags, including the American flag.
Miranda said that the policy sought “to avoid associating the Stanford name/logo with specific political perspectives.”
“As a result of this review, Stanford College Republicans is welcome to use the images of the U.S. flag reflected in the current design of its logos,” Miranda wrote in an email to the College Fix. “We will also be considering Stanford’s overarching policy on use of flags over the coming weeks.”
As Breitbart News reported last week, Stanford’s trademark office had sent an email to the student president of the College Republicans informing the association that their design is unsuitable for university use because of the backdrop of the American flag.
An email from Kara Hegwood, a Stanford trademark licensing associate, stated that “Stanford does not approve” the use of the American flag or other flags on products that feature the university trademark.
While Ms. Hegwood cited university policy in denying the permission, it was widely noted that the online Stanford University trademark guide makes no mention of flags in any capacity.
John Rice-Cameron, the Stanford College Republicans’ financial officer, expressed his satisfaction with the university’s new decision, having previously described the new logo as a “kick-ass design” and “emblematic of our club.”
“The Stanford College Republicans are glad to see that Stanford has made the right decision, by allowing our club to use the flag on our T-shirts,” Rice-Cameron said in a message to The College Fix.
“We are very grateful for the outpouring of support our club has received from thousands of Americans,” he added. “By harnessing the enthusiasm and energy of patriots throughout America, we are more emboldened than ever in our effort to promote liberty on Stanford’s campus.”
Stanford isn’t the only academic institution in California that seems to take issue with the American flag.
The University of California, Irvine removed the flag from its lobby, while the student senate at the University of California-Davis have made the American flag optional at gatherings, allowing students to remove it if it makes them uncomfortable.
“The flag to a lot of people represents capitalism, colonialism and the genocide of indigenous people, and this is why we don’t want the flag in meetings,” said UC-Davis student Becca Payne.
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