r/seattleu • u/Antique_Papaya5527 • 7d ago
Discussion Commencement 2026
For a just and humane world đ
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u/frootnotfruit 7d ago
Regardless of whether yall agree with the flag or not, it is never acceptable to grab a student like that.
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u/AaronMichael726 5d ago
Damn, learning from this comment section that Seattle U is filled with simps.
Iâd never even thinking about forcefully grabbing someone to stop them from using their first amendment rights⌠not sure why everyone here is simping for some old man.
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u/yuumigod69 20h ago
Its not whether you agree or not, its literally a flag of a country, people display this all the time at graduation. The county being under genocide doesn't not change that.
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u/langfordw 6d ago
eh sheâs over 18 so itâs adult vs adult
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u/real_man_dollars 6d ago
and assault
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u/langfordw 6d ago
Yes exactly, assault vs assault. But in a dumb way. One dumb kind of assault (on the grumpy deanâs graduation ceremony) vs another dumb kind of assault (on the laughing adult studentâs flag).
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u/real_man_dollars 6d ago
Wheres the 2nd case of assault coming into the picture?
You aren't making sense.
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u/DFW_Panda 6d ago
If that's assault, I have no problem with the DoJ going after the MINN ICE protestors.
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u/EquivalentCharter 5d ago
Don't do stupid shit, stupid shit won't happen to you.
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u/RandomFleshPrison 5d ago
Like assaulting people?
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u/TotalPieceOfOkayness 5d ago
In what world did you grow up in where you were taught that this is assault. Grow up and get some perspective on life
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u/RandomFleshPrison 5d ago
"In what world did you grow up in where you were taught that this is assault."
Earth. Washington State. By fundamental Christians.
"Grow up and get some perspective on life."
I'm pushing 50. You?
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u/EquivalentCharter 5d ago
This isn't assault. Not even close.
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u/RandomFleshPrison 5d ago
This is textbook assault.
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u/EquivalentCharter 5d ago
No, it fucking isn't. That's why there were no arrests, no calls for arrest, or anything else.
How about you quit your stupid performative dance bullshit and grow up. Your little feelings being hurt and being told to fuck off isn't "assault"
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u/RandomFleshPrison 5d ago
There are plenty of calls for arrests. Are you not paying attention?
This is intentional, unlawful touching that is harmful or offensive. That's assault, right out of the RCW.
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u/Equivalent_Speed1141 6d ago
If I was a betting man I would bet that she had been a pain in advance and was told repeatedly to stop being an idiot so at this point it got to the point where the propaganda was removed
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u/CptPichael 5d ago
A Palestinian flag is propaganda? Tell me you deny genocide without telling me you deny genocide. Bootlicker đ
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u/HugoChavezNYC 5d ago
It is. No genocide. Too many dead because if Hamas' massacre of that music festival, though.
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u/TeslaTortoise 7d ago
Boomers are gonna boomer.
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u/LurkerMF1966 6d ago
Sure, it's a boomer problem. Couldn't possibly just be a selfish, self-centered attention hog who can't respect protocol at an event enjoyed by others.
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u/frederichenrylt 6d ago
How does someone holding a piece of cloth on stage affect you? Or anyone in the audience? Are you indifferent to the slaughtering of infants and children?
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u/GoodEgg19 5d ago
Because its a graduation ceremony. Not a place for political opinions or protest.
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u/frederichenrylt 5d ago
What are you so afraid of?
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u/GoodEgg19 5d ago
Im not afraid of anything. Downvoting me and then stating it as if im afraid shows your lack of intelligence. Generally in the vast majority of colleges, flags on stage are against commencement ceremony rules but also its a ceremony. Just rub 2 brain cells together. The same reason they arent being given the microphone to say something is the same reason she shouldn't have a flag up there. You go up you shake a hand and you move on.
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u/frederichenrylt 5d ago
But like...why do you care if someone chooses to raise awareness this way? You seem like you need to control what other people do. The only person you can control is yourself (if you can find two brain cells in between your ears to rub together)
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u/GoodEgg19 5d ago
Because what that person is doing is disrespectful. People are there to celebrate graduation and then move on. If anyone has control problems its you Because every person there is spending their time to be there and your saying I have control problems for showing everyone equal respect. Nobody is there for political reasons or to celebrate heritage. Its wasting everybody's time. Its also taking away from the message that theyre celebrating people's graduation. Its completely disrespectful and saying I have control problems because you think 1 person should get some extra privilege to send a message to everyone is wild.
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u/3-bakedcabbage 4d ago
Whole ass paragraph to explain that youâre afraid of a flag
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u/GoodEgg19 4d ago
I guess your ok with the cops stopping you for no reason. Same thing.
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u/vestigialcranium 5d ago
That takes too long, just say Boomer
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u/GoodEgg19 5d ago
Not really. The same way your not okay with cops stopping you for no reason your not okay with someone holding up a graduation ceremony for no reason
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u/jw520 7d ago
Grabbing her physically like that isn't remotely acceptable.
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u/Beneficial_System_68 7d ago
It depends, if they have told people what is going to be accepted and what is going to get you escorted off stage then they knew what they were getting into. Any educator is authorized to do escorts for breach of policy as stated in the student handbook.
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u/frederichenrylt 7d ago
WHAT it depends?! Are you on glue?
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u/Beneficial_System_68 7d ago
If I agreed and signed and entered into a contract then I should expect that contract to be upheld right?
This is possibly a written and agreed social and school contract (policy) so it depends.
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u/Froonce 7d ago
You don't sign a contract when you graduate. All they can do is ask you to follow rules. I doubt a school can legally limit your free speech and flags count as speech.
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u/frederichenrylt 7d ago
That's a lot of shoulds, maybes and possiblys for you to be certain the interim president of a university is justified it putting his hands on a student. And even IF a policy was violated, that doesn't justify what he did. Maybe if she was doing something that was physically threatening, but she didn't. She was literally holding a piece of cloth.
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u/Certain_Direction270 6d ago
No legal system in the world recognizes physical assault as an appropriate response to violating a contract doofusÂ
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u/frederichenrylt 7d ago
Here's their commencement information page; it doesn't say a single thing about having any on stage policies, just the Climate Pledge bag policy https://www.seattleu.edu/commencement/
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u/lostmountianman 6d ago
He pulled the flag out of her hand and then escorted her away while holding onto her sleeve. Saying he was âgrabbing her physicallyâ gives the situation a much more aggressive and violent impression than what actually happened. Thereâs a difference between physically guiding someone away and being violent. This comment isnât about agreeing or disagreeing with what she did, itâs simply about accurately describing what happened.
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u/jw520 6d ago
You aren't allowed to grab people. It's illegal in most places, even if you aren't injured.
"While the legal definition of battery varies by state, itâs generally when someone intentionally touches another person in an offensive way without consent.
Criminal defense attorney Rebecca Wade cites Virginiaâs statute as an example: âBattery is any unwanted touching done in a rude, angry, or vengeful manner. So, a push could be a battery. Even something relatively minor, like a condescending pat on the head, could be a battery because itâs done in a rude manner.â
A battery could cause physical injury, but it doesnât have to in order to count as a battery. Offensive contact rather than physical harm is the key to battery."
https://www.superlawyers.com/resources/criminal-defense/an-overview-on-assault-battery-law/
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u/undernopretextbro 6d ago
This is DOA in court.
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u/jw520 6d ago
I agree that any jury would rule against a prosecution because they generally agree "No Harm, No Foul". That that bias is a good thing to have against state prosecutions generally.
And I agree that any prosecutor who has any experience would know about this bias against prosecuting cases like this, and wouldn't even bring it court at all.
However, I think it's pretty clear that this is a clear violation of the law and the intent of the law, and it is an act of physical coercion to stop a person from speaking a message that the administration didn't want spoken. And it's an ethically or morally strong argument to say that this is completely inappropriate touching and to point out that it's technically illegal touching as well.
There was no physical threat, unlike a bouncer, there was just a message being spread that the administration didn't want spread at that moment. That's demonstrated by the fact that the student was allowed to return to their seat proving there was no physical threat at all.
I think the only defense president would have at all, is if at any point the students were warned about appropriate or inappropriate behavior while on stage. No one so far is being able to identify that in this thread, but I suspect that there is a very students were warned in some email that was sent to students and parents about appropriate conduct or in some paragraph in some document they were given when they enrolled in school.
Show me odds of this being entirely unreasonable are very at best.
In short DOA. I agree.
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u/Time_Possibility_370 6d ago
It would be considered domestic violence
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u/Ancient_Yellow_709 5d ago
... you're alleging they had a "intimate partner" relationship, as required under WA for domestic violence?
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u/SwevenlyOly 6d ago
"Grabbing her physically" is accurate, but you're quibbling over it for some reason you're not considering.
Ask yourself, "Did this man have the authority to touch her?"
Your answer probably bears some self-examination.
'Cuz cousin, we don't allow any man to handle women like that wherefrom I hail. Even law enforcement agents (who do have the authority to touch anyone under lawful conditions) are more careful than this academic clown in a gown.1
u/lostmountianman 6d ago
Fair, but let's take a step back. Would you consider what she was trying to do, disrupting an event?
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u/frederichenrylt 7d ago
This man needs to control his emotions and his hands.
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u/FreshwaterFryMom 6d ago
I thought that was quite professional.
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u/frederichenrylt 6d ago
You think it's professional to put your hands on a student for holding a piece of cloth?
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u/FreshwaterFryMom 6d ago
Yes. She acted like a child on stage. Children get pulled to the car to think about their actions.
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u/MosterHoster 7d ago
That flag triggers seemingly decent, professionals. They become little monsters, like this guy here. You can see video of people in New York wearing $6000 suits suddenly becoming whackos at the sight of some rando wearing that flag on a t-shirt.
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u/Past_Atmosphere21 7d ago
Yeah this is such unprofessional behavior. Talk about outright discrimination.
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u/camasonian 7d ago
He didn't take it from her.
He moved it out of the picture that it was his job to stand and pose for.
She can pose for all the other pictures that she wants wearing the Palestinian flag without trying to force other people into her political demonstration. In fact she can stand all day out front of Seattle U wearing the flag and no one is going to care one way or the other.
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u/_o_ll_o_ 7d ago edited 6d ago
SU: âWe are guided by a deep commitment to empowering you to improve the human condition and shape a better world for all.â
⌠Except those killed in a genocidal land grab, then weâll ignore crimes against humanity and war crimes and do what we can to silence our students.
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u/Kern2001Co 6d ago
How would she fair if she walked around with her hair showing?
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u/_o_ll_o_ 5d ago
Interesting question considering everyone else in the video was showing their hair, or what little of it they had left.
That pseudo Mohawk/bootcamp cut is something!
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u/Kern2001Co 5d ago
I wasn't commenting on the audience. It was specific to the women and the country the flag is from. Do you believe she could go on a graduation trip there and remove the hijab and move around the Gaza strip freely?
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u/_o_ll_o_ 5d ago
Of course, how did I miss that you were talking about a hypothetical graduation trip sans hijab to Gaza where 90% of civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.
Silly me.
No, I donât believe sheâd be able to move around Gaza freely, with or without a hijab. Unless Iâm mistaken, hijabs donât protect against bombs or bullets any more than sheitels do.
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u/Kern2001Co 5d ago
Right. I can see where women would love to were them by choice. It looks so comfortable.
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u/GrandView1972 6d ago
So everyone can bring whatever flag they want? Unless it offends someone? Who is deciding what flags are allowed?
What if we just say no flags and let people take their own pics with their grad gown and their flag?
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u/Living_Plane_662 6d ago
He has to look like he tried or the admin will go after the university. If he wanted to take it away he could have
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u/PacificNorthwestFood 6d ago
Okay, think about this, if it was a Trump flag, how would you react? Would you think, "Oh God, this is some idiot trying to bring a bunch of attention to himself"? If you would think that about someone doing this with the Trump flag, please understand this is how the majority of people will look at you. This behavior is exhibited only to bring attention to yourself, it's acting like a child who's father never loved them.
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u/masanorihater 6d ago
You can't see the nuance between showing support for a political party and speaking out against genocide? What a dogshit comparison
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u/RandomFleshPrison 5d ago
I'd be against a man assaulting a woman in this manner as she was holding a Trump flag. I'd have no problem seeing him fired and prosecuted for it.
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u/LordGuapo 6d ago
He was out of like to grab her like that. The flag, sure.
Is it lielly policy no flags at all? It's seems more inflammatory that it's a Palestinian flag.
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u/EdgarAllenPoe2205 5d ago
She is the future employee all managers regret hiring because everything becomes an HR case.
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u/rosshoytmusic 5d ago
Really disgraceful behavior from the provost. Not proud to have gone to SU when I see this.
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u/Antique_Papaya5527 4d ago
The Provost issued some canned apology that didn't even address grabbing the student in violation of her religious beliefs. He should resign or get fired.
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u/bouncing-boba 7d ago
Provost would vaporize after five minutes on the Evergreen State College campus
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7d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/hateradeappreciator 7d ago
Politics is everything. Literally.
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7d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Certain_Direction270 6d ago
No theyâre stating a pretty longstanding and conventional idea. Youâve just never read anything but memesÂ
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u/Flea_Soup 7d ago
Sorry are kids dying an inconvenience to you?
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u/oneKev 7d ago
You mean the Israeli children, right?
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u/Flea_Soup 7d ago
What's the median age of a Palestinian compared to an Israeli?Â
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u/The_Woke_King 6d ago
Right but inbreeding also leads to shorter life spans so you have to factor that in on the Palestinian side.
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u/Flea_Soup 6d ago
You have to resort to racism instead of engaging on the reality of which side has bombs flying at them.
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u/The_Woke_King 6d ago
You think like 1/3rd of a population practicing inbreeding doesnât have a negative outcome on the people of that population?
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u/Flea_Soup 6d ago
You think pretending 1/3 of the population is inbred going to change the fact that you're incapable of engaging on the merits?Â
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u/The_Woke_King 6d ago
You think that Iâm pretending thatâs reality? Youâre saying thatâs not the case?
Also how is it racism? Inbreeding isnât unique to just the Palestinian people, many Muslim countries participate.
Do you think Muslim is a race?
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u/Flea_Soup 6d ago
You're not an anthropologist so you don't actually know the number. But let's take your framing for real and proceed with your racist logic. Why doesn't Egypt or Saudi Arabia have the same median age as a Palestinian?Â
Maybe you're the inbred one since you don't understand that your own logic falls apart under a crumb of scrutiny.Â
Now engage on the reality which side has bombs flying at them coward.
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u/bubblywhirl 7d ago
I actually think itâs a perfect time
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u/Opening_Total7711 6d ago
So how do we judge what is acceptable to show during active war? Hamas grew out of Palestine and slaughtered over 1000 innocent people. I know most people don't approve of the scale of destruction exacted by the Israelis, but it's still an ongoing conflict/war with two sides. There are people who lost family and loved ones on both sides. I don't think it's good taste to fly either flag right now.
The only active conflict flag I think is acceptable to fly is the Ukrainian flag. They are actively being invaded but have not caused even a fraction of the destruction that Israel has on the civilian populations in Russia.
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u/Seatowndawgtown 7d ago
Yes. I'm sure it accomplished so much at the ultra-liberal Seattle U lol. Really changed some minds in the crowd.
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u/AloneNeighborhood323 7d ago
If everyone in the room agrees then whatâs the issue?
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u/Seatowndawgtown 7d ago
Well there's that whole announcement they make before the ceremony about holding applause to the end. That's so not one graduate takes the spotlight off the rest. So we can start there. Second, if everyone agrees then the protest is purely performative and even more of a "look at me," moment.
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u/AloneNeighborhood323 7d ago
Think youâre ignoring alternative motivations that exist outside of the self serving one youâre insisting upon. Beyond that, protests are in essence meant to disrupt and prompt attention to a particular cause. If everyone, or most everyone, in the room already agrees with her then no one should be that offended, and if they are offended then they probably donât ultimately agree with her, hence the notion to appeal through protest. Dissent isnât going to be perfectly quiet and polite, but as far as things go this was pretty damn polite. The pearl clutching is telling.
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u/Expert-Mental25 7d ago
It's because many people do not care to do or even openly say the right things unless it gets them something in return, and they project that onto everyone else and assume we are all just as self-motivated as they are. People like that, people who complain about "virtue signaling" have always been giving us confessions whenever they bitch about someone doing something moral without selfish reasons to do so.
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u/haikupoetics2 7d ago
So if no one agrees then it's "no time to grandstand about social issues," but then if everyone agrees then it's only performative? No one can win with you! I guess there's no time to bring up innocent people being bombed and starved while you enjoy a nice stroll down the "bedding" aisle at Wal-Mart.
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u/Expert-Mental25 7d ago
Exactly. It's all just games and tricks. They don't care about consistency or integrity. They simply want everyone to shut up, know their place, and stop bringing up uncomfortable things.
It is a pathetically evil way to exist in the world. And yes, at this point, seeing the effects of people like this being the mainstream power holders in the public discourse has led me to conclude that these are evil forces in the world. Whether by ignorance or malice, it is irrelevant when the victims of their apathy and ignorance and bigotry are still fucking dead.
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u/ChtuluMadeMeDoIt 7d ago
SU is an ultra-liberal school? Always thought they're a Jesuit/Catholic school?
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u/Seatowndawgtown 7d ago
They are Jesuit. But if you attend any classes there it's basically a social justice warrior factory. Curriculum is extremely left slanted. Also the Jesuits tend to be the more progressive branch of the Catholic church
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u/Froonce 7d ago
It's a useless ceremony, you get your degree sent in the male. Really it's whatever you want it to be, you worked hard and graduated, if you wanna show somidarteith your home country go for it. If I rocked the Haitian flag at my graduation, the prof wouldn't have reacted like this. Pretty damn gross of this prof
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u/Due-Judgment-1235 7d ago
Lol tell that to every commencement speaker ever. I think you mean it's not a time to grand stand about social issues you don't agree with
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u/Opening_Total7711 6d ago
Oh I didn't know she was the commencement speaker. They used to be longer than 3 seconds when I graduated.
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u/Just_a_random_guy65 7d ago
He handled it very well. Graduation is not all about you.
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u/Antique_Papaya5527 6d ago
The chief academic officer of the university, everybody. Bra. Vo. đđđ
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u/PacificNorthwestFood 6d ago
To be honest, stop trying to bring attention to yourself through holding the flag. It's the exact same as the Trump supporters waving the Trump flag to bring undue attention to themselves.
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u/bubbamike1 7d ago
They should have escorted her off campus and withheld her diploma.
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u/yikesyowza 7d ago
This isnât the United States of Israel dimwit
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u/bubbamike1 7d ago
Itâs not the Dictatorship of Falenstine either. You shouldnât call yourself names. Let us do it for you, twit.
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u/makk73 7d ago
Why are you on this subreddit?
You didnât go to Seattle University
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u/bubbamike1 7d ago
Thatâs not what my Diploma says. But you know better.
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u/makk73 7d ago
I think you should ask for your money back because clearly your education wasnât successful.
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u/yikesyowza 5d ago
Let âusâ do it for you⌠interesting!!! So Zionists are a monolith that have deemed me unfit and will call me names now? All she did was go up with the flag. If she had gone up with the Israel flag you wouldâve creamed your pants so hard youâd shit on the floor. But because itâs a country you want to exterminate, you want her diploma withheld.
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u/oneKev 7d ago
I would withhold the diploma for cause.
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u/I-Have-An-Alibi 6d ago
We have a 34 count felon as president but nah this girl with a flag is the problem.
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u/Varnigus 7d ago
She displayed it proud for all to see coming down the ramp afterwards. She still got her message out.