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Seal does not reflect academia, the student body

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June 24, 2013 12:33 a.m.

For many, graduation is ideally a significant time for self-reflection and identity formation. The specter of yet another closing chapter charges us with bittersweet emotion.

As a recent UCLA graduate I discovered that even I was not immune to this quarter-life crisis, and saw it worthwhile to invest in a graduation package that included an ornate executive pad holder. However, it was then and there that for the first time I noticed the details of the official University of California seal and was dismayed to discover it contained religious imagery – namely, an open book wrapped by a banner in the foreground which states, “Let there be light.”

Above the book there is a shining star that is reminiscent of the Star of Bethlehem in Judeo-Christian tradition. This seal will also be featured on my bachelor’s degree.

Why should such a symbol be controversial? Personally, I am an atheist and that is a prominent part of my identity. As an atheist I believe that knowledge, good deeds and inspiration come from within and not from without, and that the faculty of reason is an innate human quality that is devoid of supernatural influence.

It is in large part for these reasons why I am proud to be a product of the secular public school system. My disappointment, therefore, to find such a symbol representing the culmination of the immense amount of work I put in to realize this rite of passage cannot be overemphasized.

In addition, I am sure I speak for students across a broad spectrum of ideologies when I say that invoking Judeo-Christian symbolism goes against the atmosphere that a public school is legally entitled to create, and that they would rather not have their achievement branded by a statement so incongruous to their creed.

Ask any person off the street what is the first thing that they think of if one is to say, “Let there be light,” and the odds are stacked in your favor that they will answer the Bible. Such a response would seem quite obvious. However, when I expressed my concern to the staff of the UCLA store, where the executive pad holders wielding these seals are sold, I was informed that the open book is not a bible and that the phrase is a reference to the gathering of education.

Of course, anyone including myself would be willing to contend that a book by itself can be a neutral element. Indeed, the seal for Santa Monica College, where I earned my associate degree, also features an open book. Here it is displayed prominently against a background of Greek columns and superseded with the words, “Friendliness. Truth. Service.” In this instance, the imagery bespeaks to the tenets of civility, philosophy and above all human reason, all three of which pay tribute to the very foundations of Western academia and are therefore much more relevant to a university education.

The accompanying maxim to the book featured on the UC seal however does not leave its meaning open to interpretation. Anyone with even a limited background in history knows that the phrase “Let there be light” is translated from the Latin “Fiat lux,” found originally in the Latin Vulgate Bible from the fourth century. In fact, the verse from Genesis 1:3 read in its entirety from this very same source is “Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux,” (God said: Let there be light. And there was light).

Recently, the UC system had been designing a new seal but the efforts were stalled by the student body due to the new proposals going against tradition. However, I say that it is unethical to knowingly disregard the founding principles of this secular country by hiding behind the smokescreen of tradition and using the seal for more than 100 years.

Thus I believe that now is the opportune moment to lend a voice to future generations of UC students so that when they too are facing these crossroads in life, they can proudly display a degree and seal that complements their convictions rather than contradicts them. We owe them that much.

Evangelatos graduated in June with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

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