Danielle Powell, a 24-year-old former student at Grace University, was expelled a semester before her graduation last year because she is a lesbian. The university was ready to transfer her credits to another school provided she agreed to pay $6,300.
Powell's wife, Michelle Rogers,22, introduced an online petition against the institution over the weekend criticizing the university accusing officials of discrimination and 'bullying at its finest.' The petition that also seeks to nullify her debt has already garnered more than 10,000 signatures.
"I feel that it's important that kind of discrimination should not happen towards an individual," Rogers said.
Powell had her first gay relationship while she was a student at Grace University in early 2011. Until that time, neither she nor her then-girlfriend identified themselves as lesbian. When the university discovered her relationship status, they brought the matter before the judiciary board to decide whether she stays enrolled.
"At that time, my family had no idea, so I had to come out to my family sooner than I would've wanted," Powell said.
On March 2011, at the end of the hearing, the university decided to suspend her and not allow her to finish the semester. She was told that the academic scholarship had been taken back and that she owed over $6,000 to the university.
Powell said that the university told her that she could participate in a restoration program, involving counseling and regular church attendance, to get readmitted. She will have to stay off campus and not spend overnight in the dorms. She agreed to the restoration process in the summer of 2011.
At the start of the spring 2012 semester, the university decided not to take her back because she was still dating women.
"They were doing a witch hunt," Powell said, "calling around to see if I was in a same-sex relationship."
In a letter addressed to Powell, the university said that "she was being "deceitful" and said it would be "unethical" for the university to readmit her since it "would be impossible for the faculty of Grace University to affirm your Christian character, a requirement for degree conferral."
Powell said that she was given only a student copy of credits that cannot be used for transfer process. Her credits will only be transferred after she pays $6,300 to the university.
Michael James, executive vice president at Grace said that the university must recover federal financial aid from the student who received it but failed to complete a semester. "Suspension or expulsion constitutes withdrawal," James said.
"College was always kind of one of those things I never thought was an option for me because of my financial background," Powell said, noting she'd be the first in her family to get a degree. "It's something I've invested too much in to not finish."
