Before the vote to ban the American flag from the student government lobby at the University of California at Irvine, there was a pattern of intolerance among campus leaders toward freedom of speech, expression, and American exceptionalism.

This is a campus where an American history course is not even required for history majors. This is a campus where a frat that held an islander-themed party to raise funds for charity last year was accused of racism because guests wore coconut bras and grass skirts. And this is where a handful of students voted to ban displaying the American flag in its student government lobby (a decision later vetoed).

There is even more diversity mania at the Southern California school.

Nick Gallo, a second-year Ph.D. student in the department of computer science at UC Irvine, reports that when he applied to the school’s program, he was “required” to submit a statement about how he would enhance the “diversity” of the university.

Gallo, in his piece, doesn’t stop there, citing a Jan. 30 campus-wide email from Chancellor Howard Gillman that announced “in the area of faculty recruitment, we instituted a requirement that all applicants submit with their application materials a statement indicating their past and/or potential contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Gillman’s email also emphasized UCI’s commitment to “inclusive excellence,” lauded its workshop on “identifying microaggressions,” and stated the school was forming a special task force to make African-American students feel more welcome and engaged in campus life. It also noted the administration’s intention to alter the racial makeup of the student body in order to qualify for a Hispanic Serving Institution designation by the federal government, Gallo reports.

Gallo goes on:

Similarly, on Feb. 13, Vice Chancellor Parham issued an unusual e-mail condemning “instances of cultural insensitivity” stating that the administration joins with “our Muslim brothers and sisters” in the aftermath of the senseless UNC Chapel Hill murders of three Muslims and encouraged affected students to utilize the UCI Counseling Center. However, on Jan. 7, when twelve cartoonists in Paris were publicly executed by ruthless Jihadists (and no, despite this juxtaposition, I am not conflating “Muslims” with “Jihadists”) for drawing a caricature of Mohammed, the administration was silent. Despite the international media attention, the administration offered no special counseling sessions or condolences to French students, no statements about “cultural insensitivity,” and didn’t take the opportunity to champion cherished American values of Freedom of Expression and Religion or state our nation’s commitment to securing these freedoms throughout the world.

Gallo’s point is that the students who voted to ban the American flag were just doing what they have been taught. He’s right. And it’s not just at UC Irvine.

Leftist professors, dozens of them up and down the state of California, signed their name in support of the notion of banning the American flag on campuses. The letter stated that “nationalism, including U.S. nationalism, often contributes to racism and xenophobia,” and went on to refer to the flag as “paraphernalia of nationalism … used to intimidate.” To them, the American flag is propaganda, a hateful tool of some sort. They are blinded by disdain for their own country.