GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Valley State University’s student government will no longer say the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings.

The GVSU Student Senate voted Thursday, Nov. 14, to remove the pledge from its meeting agendas. Ten student senators abstained from voting. The official vote was 22-10.

Those petitioning the removal of the pledge argued it’s not inclusive to international students and non-religious or non-Christian students, according to Student Senate spokesperson Ryan Fritz.

“A lot of students didn’t feel comfortable with the ‘under God’ aspect of the pledge,” the political science and communications senior said, adding that the student senate pushes for inclusion and equity.

Fritz said some students felt that the pledge created an uncomfortable atmosphere for those not wanting to stand. Some others, he said, argued they wanted to pledge support to their student government, not the federal government.

“We are representing a diverse population here and that specific language doesn’t sit with this diverse population and fully representing them,” Lansing Sánchez-Castillo, a student senator, told Fox17.

Sánchez-Castillo abstained from voting on the measure but said he supported the pledge’s removal.

Fritz himself voted to keep the pledge. He was unable to immediately connect MLive/The Grand Rapids Press with a student senator in favor of removing the pledge.

Dorian Thompson, a political science senior and student senator, called the situation a “disgrace.”

“This is three days after Veterans Day,” Thompson said. “I had veterans pull me aside angry at what was going on. This is a big slap in the face.”

No one is forced to stand or recite the pledge, he said, and keeping the pledge allows protest by sitting for those opposed to its inclusion.

Thompson said there’s been no public outcry from international students on the issue, and that he stands during other country’s national anthems out of respect.

The fight over the pledge traces back to the summer, when the nine-member Student Senate Cabinet voted to remove it from the agenda “because some members felt as if it didn’t serve a purpose during our General Assembly Meetings,” Fritz said.

A few weeks into the fall semester, Thompson noticed it had been removed and started lobbying to reinstate it. He was successful by a 24-14 vote.

“You’re not pledging allegiance to Donald Trump or Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi, you’re pledging allegiance to the country,” he said. "I think a lot of folks don’t understand that.”

Thompson said he plans to motion a vote for the pledge’s inclusion at every meeting hereafter.

“We’re not over yet when it comes to this fight,” he said.

Fritz emphasized that the GVSU Student Senate is different from the university’s governing board, the Board of Trustees, and does not reflect their opinions or policies.