Open Forum Discusses Whether The Pledge of Allegiance Should be Recited at USGA Meetings.
A motion was passed by the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA) last semester, giving students the option of stating the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting. For students who are unaware, USGA is open to the entire student body, and everyone is encouraged to attend. This semester meetings will be held on Wednesdays between 1:45 p.m. and 3:45 p.m.
After this new option of stating the Pledge was implemented, many complaints were raised by students. The USGA decided to have another vote at their regular meeting to come to an agreement. However, student representatives and senators did not overturn their previous decision to allow the Pledge to be spoken at meetings. Instead, they agreed that the issue should be brought to the student body as a whole. As a result, the USGA hosted an open forum on Monday, Dec. 10, to further address student concerns and questions. The turnout for this debate was incredibly small and disappointing; however; many good points were still brought up.
Including the five people on the USGA E-board, only 49 people showed up and a handful left before the debate was over. Of these 49 people, there were some very diverse opinions; some people more ignorant than others about other people’s beliefs. The debate started off very organized, and slowly people became more comfortable expressing their opinions.
The first point made was that saying the Pledge of Allegiance is completely optional. If you do not want to say it you do not have to. This brought up many arguments about how people judge you if you do not participate. If you sit down during it, everyone looks at you funny. Some people obviously feel uncomfortable with people withholding from saying the pledge, and some people feel uncomfortable being judged for not saying it.
Student Ross Weiner commented saying, “Instead of denying me the right or my colleagues the right to say the pledge, just opt out.”
Some people stated that during USGA meetings may not be the time or place for the Pledge of Allegiance. There are many international students who may feel uncomfortable with pledging their full loyalty to a country that is not their homeland. They may feel they fit in better in their original country; “one nation” is not a comfortable thing for them to say. They argued that students need to respect that there are other countries in the world that people may feel connected to as well.
Sam Hill made the point that when you are in another country, you are expected to learn their language, cultures, and customs. You are not expected to do everything they do, but you are expected to respect it.
Saying “Under God” in the pledge bothered people, too. Not everyone believes in God or a god, and they may feel uncomfortable saying this. They also may feel uncomfortable being ostracized for blocking out the religious reference of the Pledge when reciting it.
One student commented that we say the Pledge of Allegiance out of respect for those who have given their lives for the country; however at a Red Sox game, if they are playing an international team, we not only play our national anthem but theirs as well.
Many people stated alternatives to saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Coming up with a poll to send to all undergraduate students was a big issue discussed at the forum. An email was sent to all undergraduate students at the conclusion of the fall semester, asking whether they felt the reciting the Pledge at USGA meetings should be allowed. The entire student body was able to vote on what they wanted done during the USGA meetings. Some options were to continue saying the Pledge, to have a moment of silence, to recite the Charger Compact, or to have the option that this is not important to them at all.
The results of the poll have yet to be announced.
