The student government of Grand Valley State University in Michigan voted to end the tradition of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before student government meetings, calling it “discriminatory and oppressive,” Breitbart reports.
The student government voted to cancel the Pledge of Allegiance by a margin of 22-10 last week. This follows similar moves from other colleges such as the University of Oklahoma, which voted to end the Pledge by a narrower margin of 15-11.
One of the student senators at Grand Valley who voted to keep the Pledge, Dorian Thompson, said that the majority’s claims were that the Pledge “represented an oppressive government,” and that eliminating it would “create an inclusive environment” for international students.
Thompson vowed that he will fight to reinstate the Pledge, saying “I will do everything in my power to fight this disgraceful act.”