University of Chicago lab school removes LGBTQ pride flag over neutrality fears
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The University of Chicago (UC) Laboratory Schools, a university-affiliated institution, will no longer fly the LGBTQ pride flag outside its quad after university administrators determined it would violate institutional neutrality.
The news was announced for the first time by U-High MidwayUC Laboratory High School’s student newspaper, ahead of Pride Month, with a new statement from Interim Director Ethan Bueno de Mesquita announcing the decision on Monday.
“I think the idea of a student organization saying, ‘We should fly the pride flag for Pride Month’ is, in a sense, student discourse and should be completely acceptable,” Bueno de Mesquita said. he said. “I think the university is saying that an observer saw something flying off the flagpole and understood that it was a statement from the institution, a reasonable interpretation of how flagpoles work, and that doesn’t seem like an unreasonable rule to me.”
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The University of Chicago (UC) Laboratory Schools has chosen not to fly the LGBTQ pride flag for the first time since 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
He added: “To be clear, full membership of LGBTQ+ people in the Lab community is not controversial. It is a core value.”
The decision to remove the flag, which has flown in the same spot since 2022, came after administrators reviewed whether the LGBTQ pride flag was compatible with the University of Chicago’s flag. Kalven Committee report on impartiality.
“There is no mechanism by which it can reach a collective position without impeding the full freedom of dissent on which it thrives. It cannot insist that all its members support a particular view of social policy; therefore, if it takes collective action, it does so at the expense of condemning any minority who disagrees with the adopted view. In short, it is a community that cannot resort to majority vote to take positions on public issues,” the report said.
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Administrators found that the LGBTQ pride flag did not comply with the University of Chicago Kalven Committee’s neutrality report. (Getty Images)
He continued: “The impartiality of the university as an institution does not come from a lack of courage or from indifference and insensitivity. It comes from respect for free inquiry and the obligation to value different points of view.”
Administrators also believed the LGBTQ pride flag violated UC Lab Schools’ new neutrality policy, which was established last month.
“The following Standards govern how controversial issues are addressed in school settings. They are united in one general principle: educators do not use adult authority to manipulate students toward or indirectly toward specific conclusions on controversial issues.” instructions read.
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The University of Chicago’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors opposed the decision to remove the pride flag. (iStock)
The University of Chicago’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors criticized the decision in an X post on Monday.
“You see that even the display of basic symbols expressing the dignity of our students would be an unacceptable political stance and a violation of impartiality. This has nothing to do with the national environment,” the organization said. he wrote.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to UC Laboratory Schools and the University of Chicago’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors for comment.
