Dupage Policy Journal

Jeanne Ives, a former state legislator and founder of Breakthrough Ideas, said that administrators acted appropriately in removing a Palestinian flag from a student during a graduation ceremony. She suggested that Glenbard South leadership should have taken similar action at its ceremony on May 22.

"This is what Glenbard South should have done when the student pulled out the Palestine Flag banner and they should have denied her entry for wearing a keffiyeh openly over her graduation gown," said M Ives. "Glad to see some good school administrators do the right thing."

According to her post on X, Ives responded to a June 6 post by American Papa Bear, a user on the platform, which included a TikTok video of an unnamed school's graduation ceremony. The video depicted a student displaying a Palestinian flag with administrators intervening. The poster commended the administrator for confiscating the flag and encouraged the student to leave the stage.

Screenshot of Jeanne Ives' June 7 post on X | X

In her May 23 post on X, Ives described the female student as tone-deaf after she wore a keffiyeh over her graduation gown and displayed the Palestinian flag on stage. The video of this incident shows that the student was not stopped when she unfurled the flag or wore the keffiyeh.

Amy Grandsard, a resident of Glen Ellyn who wrote to the DuPage Policy Journal about this incident, questioned whether political statements and flags are now permissible at Glenbard South graduations. "Would you allow a student to pull out a Nazi flag and walk across the stage and have them photographed with their diploma holding this piece of propaganda? Both flags have the same message," Grandsard wrote. "You allowed this student to walk across the stage, display the Palestinian flag, and be photographed. What a disgrace."

Ives is an alumna of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Her military service included roles as platoon leader and headquarters detachment commander in Germany, as well as an ROTC instructor at Wheaton College. She served three terms as an Illinois State Representative, where she was recognized for her conservative leadership and advocacy for taxpayers. Ives ran for Governor of Illinois in 2018 and later ran for Congress in 2020, further energizing conservative momentum in suburban Illinois. She founded Breakthrough Ideas to advance conservative networks and hosts "The Real Story with Jeanne Ives" on AM 560 Chicago.