Discord of the Rings: Heritage, politics affect feelings about flag

September 30, 2010 9:31 PM
By JAZMINE ULLOA, The Brownsville Herald

Some students see the Mexican flag on the official UTB-TSC class ring as a celebration of the institution’s heritage. Others believe it is an affront to American patriotism.

But university officials said they stand behind the design.

"My sense is that it has been a privilege for us to have been able to establish a university at the crossroads of the United States and the Latin Americas and to have woven into our mission the convening of cultures, histories and languages of our cross-national community," said Juliet V. Garcia, president of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. "We are very proud to represent that uniqueness in the symbols chosen by our students for their ring."

Students are debating the significance of the Mexican flag on the class ring after one woman told the Brownsville Herald earlier this week that she wanted it removed. She said she did not want to wear a symbol from a foreign country.

University officials have explained that the design is a representation of UTB-TSC’s history, spirit and unique mix of cultures -- the main campus of the school sits on the banks of the Rio Grande, on the U.S-Mexico border. More than 50 students were surveyed in focus groups to determine the ring’s final look when it was created more than eight years ago.

School leaders said the flag on the ring was solely a symbol of heritage, not a political statement.

But Jana Flores, 37, said the university discriminated against her when she was prohibited from participating in the class ring ceremony because she didn’t buy the official ring sold by Balfour, which holds the license to use the official UTB-TSC emblem.

Flores, who said she is of Spanish and Portuguese descent, paid double the price to have a similar ring – but without the Mexican flag – made by another company. She said the Mexican flag did not represent her heritage and had no meaning to her.

"I’m just very hurt by the university because it denied that access to me," she said of the ring ceremony. "That is something I am never going to have back."

"By them choosing that one symbol they have inadvertently hurt a lot of people that feel the same way I do," she said.

But some professors and students disagree. The ring is a celebration of the institution’s heritage, they say, much like Notre Dame cherishes its Irish pride.

Tony Zavaleta, vice president of external affairs for UTB-TSC, said the university should honor its binational community, given its location.

"The symbol of the Mexican flag is appropriate," Zavaleta said. He believes the university should not remove it but be open to debate on the issue, just as it has long been at the cusp of national debate on issues such as immigration reform, a security fence and Mexico’s drug war.

"The university steps up as the conveyor of both sides," Zavaleta said. "It convenes opposite ways of thinking. That is the role of a university."

Alma Aguilar, 22, said she believes students should not be fussing over such a small graphic detail, which is barely discernible on the ring. She bought her ring in April.

"Personally, I do not feel it should be removed because it is a university on the border," she said. "For me, (the ring) meant that I was part of this university for the past four years

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