Danielle Powell was just one semester shy of graduation when she was expelled from ‘premier Midwest Christian college’ Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska last year for being a lesbian.
The university has refused to transfer credits earned by Powell during her three-and-a-half-years at the college until she pays them $6,300.
Danielle Powell, right, was kicked out of her
university for being gay in 2012, while wife Michelle Rogers, left, has
launched an online petition calling for the university to drop its
demand for $6,300
Powell was already a student at Grace University in early 2011 when she began her first same-sex relationship. Prior to that she had not identified as lesbian.
When authorities at the university found out about the relationship Powell was brought before a judiciary board to decide whether she should be allowed to stay enrolled.
Initially Powell agreed to participate in a restoration program, involving counseling and regular church attendance, in order to complete her education.
But shortly before the start of the spring 2012 semester, Grace decided not to her because she was still dating women.
Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska describes itself on its website as a 'premier Midwest Christian college'
She was promptly expelled and received a letter from Grace University Executive V.P. Michael James explaining that 'it would be impossible for the faculty of Grace University to affirm your Christian character, a requirement for degree conferral.’
In addition to being expelled, school officials revoked her academic scholarship and told her she owed the university $6,300.
Justifing the college's actions, James told The Huffington Post that the university's student handbook forbids ‘sexually immoral behavior.’
Quoting from the handbook, James stated that ‘premarital sex, adultery, and "homosexual acts" all could lead to probation and/or a judiciary hearing.'
To protest at what she views an unfair victimization of Powell, her wife, Michelle Rogers, has launched an online petition calling for the university to drop its demand.
Married: Powell, right, proposed to Rogers at a Macklemore concert in December
The petition has gained over 16,000 signatures since it launched last weekend.
'I’m asking for your help in petitioning Grace University to drop tuition fees owed for the Spring Semester of 2011,' Rogers says in the petition.
'We are a young, recently married couple and this lingering debt - which Danielle should not have to pay and Grace has no right to demand - is holding her back.'
Powell's marriage proposal to Rogers took place at a Macklemore concert in December, and the video went viral.
