PROVO — All had been pretty quiet on the Big 12 front as expansion candidates made their pitches for inclusion into the conference, including BYU.

But the student government of one of the conference’s founding schools is speaking out.

The Iowa State Student Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night arguing against BYU’s inclusion in the Big 12 because it “believes that BYU’s discriminatory policies and practices are inconsistent with the values of the Big 12 Conference.”

The language of the resolution is similar to a letter drafted by LGBT advocacy group Athlete Ally and other organizations last month in which it alleged BYU’s Honor Code explicitly discriminates against LGBTQ student-athletes. The ISU student government alleged similar discriminations in that BYU prohibits “sexual relations between members of the same sex, and all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings,” according to the resolution posted on the student government’s Facebook page.

“Student government’s goal is to create a safe and all-inclusive campus where students feel supported to learn, grow and succeed,” the senate said in a statement to the Ames (Iowa) Tribune. “The senate finds that Brigham Young University’s honor code does not communicate nor reflect the values that the Big XII Conference represents. Therefore, the senate of student government does not support BYU’s membership bid to the Big XII at this time.”

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Athlete Ally, a non-profit group of LGBTQ activists for sports league, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights released a letter Monday urging the Big 12 conference to not admit BYU as a member school because of what it believes to be discriminatory practices by the university and its sponsor, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins responded to the Athlete Ally letter at the time in an official statement from the university.

“BYU welcomes as full members of the university community all whose conduct meets university standards,” the statement read. “We are very clear and open about our honor code, which all students understand and commit to when they apply for admission. One’s state sexual orientation is not an issue.”

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe also released a statement via Twitter at the time.

“LGBT players, coaches and fans are always welcome to the BYU campus,” he said. “Everyone should be treated with respect, dignity and love.”

Not everyone in the school’s student government voted in favor of the resolution. Student government president Cole Staudt argued the Student Senate should not pass the memorandum against BYU.

“I have been speaking with other presidents of Big 12 institutions,” Staudt told the school newspaper Iowa State Daily. “A number of them said that they don’t believe we should be taking a position at all.”

Staudt released a lengthy statement Thursday afternoon pertaining to the vote and BYU's potential inclusion in the Big 12.

“BYU’s policies against the LGBT community are contrary to the community we desire in the United States. However, if we are truly committed to making change in this country and creating an inclusive nation, we cannot do it by excluding others," he said.

“I believe that the most effective way to change what I see in BYU’s policies, is with love.”

In all, 21 senators voted in favor of the resolution and six voted against it. The resolution will be sent to Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby and the conference’s expansion committee made up of the 10 university presidents.

The conference continues to meet with 11 expansion candidates ranging from BYU, Cincinnati and Houston to Central Florida, Connecticut and Tulane this week in Dallas.

The Cyclones were charter members of the Big 12 when it formed in 1994, supplanting the old Big Eight and Southwest conferences. The northernmost school in the Big 12, Iowa State has a 510-620-46 all-time record in football and a 3-9 record in postseason play.

Iowa State has never won a Big 12 championship, though the Cyclones were Big 12 North champions in 2004, when they finished 7-5 with a 27-24 loss to TCU in the Houston Bowl.

Iowa State opened the 2016 season with a 25-20 home loss to Northern Iowa. The Cyclones play at Iowa on Saturday.

The Cougars are 0-4 all-time against Iowa State in four meetings between 1968 and 1974.

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