Student trustees at a California college banned the Pledge of Allegiance from their meetings because they saw no reason to swear allegiance to God or the United States government, according to Reuters.
The decision to ban the pledge from student trustee meetings at Orange County-based Orange Coast College caused controversy on campus, prompting Christine Zoldos, a political science major at the school, to recite the pledge during the board's meeting on Wednesday night.
"America is the one thing I'm passionate about, and I can't let them take that away from me," she said. "The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible."
Student trustee Jason Bell said the board enacted the ban because they did not want to take public vows of loyalty to the U.S. government before each meeting, according to Reuters.
"Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge," he said.
