March 8, 2002

Commencement Controversies

By RICHARD MORGAN

Middle Eastern conflicts have spilled into the Midwest at Macalester College.

Isra' Muzaffar, a senior with a Jordanian passport, is demanding that the Minnesota college let her display the Palestinian flag at her graduation.

The college has long allowed international students to carry flags of their homelands in the procession.

But officials turned down Ms. Muzaffar's request, arguing that Palestine, according to the United Nations, is not a full-fledged