Citizenship: This Time It Takes -- Student's Graffiti Prank Barred Her On The First Try

BELLEVUE

It was never meant to be vandalism; just one of those senior-year pranks done in the giddiness of class spirit. The repercussions, however, were far greater than 19-year-old Grace Lee ever imagined. She was banned from her graduation ceremony, later denied citizenship and was swarmed with phone calls from reporters.

Yesterday, the Taiwanese-born Lee finally put the ordeal behind her. Wired with TV mikes, she took her oath of U.S. citizenship in Seattle surrounded by popping flashbulbs and flag-waving friends, some of whom also had taken part in the prank last year at Bellevue's Sammamish High School.

"I feel a combination of emotion and relief," Lee said yesterday. "I just want to put it behind me now and move on."

Last June, Lee and 16 other Sammamish High seniors were arrested for painting slogans on the school's windows, walls and parking lot during a pre-dawn party. Lee says she did not take part in vandalizing the school building and did not use permanent paint in the parking lot.

Although charges were not filed, the students were banned from their graduation ceremony and together had to pay the $5,000 cost of cleaning up the graffiti.

Lee was to receive her citizenship papers a few weeks later, but immigration officials turned her down after she told them of the arrest. "I had already passed the interviews and tests," she said. "I just had to be sworn in. But that question came up, and I wasn't going to lie."

Once Lee was denied citizenship, her status was in limbo - the delay might be short, she could be asked to wait five years, or maybe she would never be allowed to become a U.S. citizen.

"The weird thing is," she said, "it meant more to me after I didn't get it."

Lee, now a freshman at Western Washington University in Bellingham, moved to the United States - and Bellevue - when she was 4 with her mother and sisters. Her father, a violinist with the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, stayed behind.

The denial of Lee's citizenship in June was also a disappointment for her mother, who received her certificate then.

Since then, Lee thinks she's matured and says her mother has been very understanding. Becoming a citizen is something she cherishes because of her parents' sacrifices, she says, and also because there's no other place she considers home.

"Grace is a young person with a future ahead of her," said Greg Gourley, who taught Lee's citizenship-preparation class at Edmonds Community College. "This shows the importance of telling the truth, and I'm glad Grace had the great character to do that. I think she'll be a tremendous contributor to this country."

Lee, her family and her friends say they'll be glad when the media attention fades away.

"Personally I thought all the hoopla was ridiculous," said Josephine Lee, Lee's twin sister. "I can think of past senior pranks that got away with a slap on the wrist. I think you do need to set an example. Unfortunately they (school officials) decided to pick their class to set an example."

Dru Klein, a friend of Lee's and one of the "Sammamish 17," agreed.

"They thought we were a bunch of punk kids who wouldn't take any responsibility," she said. "And we did."

Keiko Morris' phone message number is 206-464-3214. Her e-mail address is: kmor-new@seatimes.com