Another Graduate Student Faces Expulsion Due to Views about Homosexuality

Looks like the PC police continue its dragnet in eliminating "thought criminals" from the ranks of universities.  Yesterday, I posted about a graduate student of school counseling in Georgia facing expulsion (see below).  Today, another similar situation is being reported, this time from Michigan.  A big difference between the two stories: this second case has gone to court and the university's decision was upheld!  (Emphasis added.)

Court Upholds Expulsion of Counseling Student Who Opposes Homosexuality


A federal judge has ruled in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. Monday's ruling, according to Julea Ward's attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views.

“It’s a very dangerous precedent,” Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told FOX News Radio. “The ruling doesn’t say that explicitly, but that’s what is going to happen.”

U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed Ward’s lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University. She was removed from the school’s counseling program last year because she refused to counsel homosexual clients.

The university contended she violated school policy and the American Counseling Association code of ethics.

“Christian students shouldn’t be expelled for holding to and abiding by their beliefs,” said ADF senior counsel David French. “To reach its decision, the court had to do something that’s never been done in federal court: uphold an extremely broad and vague university speech code.”

...

In his 48-page opinion, Judge Steeh said the university had a rational basis for adopting the ACA Code of Ethics.

“Furthermore, the university had a rational basis for requiring students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values,” he wrote in a portion of his ruling posted by The Detroit News. “In the case of Ms. Ward, the university determined that she would never change her behavior and would consistently refuse to counsel clients on matters with which she was personally opposed due to her religious beliefs – including homosexual relationships.”

Ward’s attorneys claim the university told her she would only be allowed to remain in the program if she went through a “remediation” program so that she could “see the error of her ways” and change her belief system about homosexuality.

The case is similar to a lawsuit the ADF filed against Augusta State University in Georgia. Counseling student Jennifer Keeton was allegedly told to stop sharing her Christian beliefs in order to graduate.

Keeton's lawsuit alleged that she was told to undergo a reeducation program and attend “diversity sensitivity training.”

University officials declined to comment on specifics of the lawsuit but released a statement to FOX News that said Augusta State does not discriminate on the basis of students’ moral, religious, political or personal beliefs.

Tedesco said both cases should be a warning to Christians attending public colleges and universities.

“Public universities are imposing the ideological stances of private groups on their students,” he said. “If you don’t comply, you will be kicked out. It’s scary stuff and it’s not a difficult thing to see what’s coming down the pike.”

The Alliance Defense Fund told FOX News it will appeal the ruling.

This brings up a few points to ponder:

1)  What must other college students be thinking right now?  How many are worried about possibly being expelled from their programs or being forced to attend "re-education" or "remediation camp?"  


2)  What about other fields of study?  These two cases both involved counselors.  What about medical and pharmacy students who oppose abortion and abortion-inducing medications?  There has been some talk of employers dismissing pharmacists who refuse to issue abortion pills.  What if one of these students lets slip in class that he or she is opposed to abortion or euthanasia?  What about the medical or nursing student who voices opposition to such practices?  Will such "heresy" against the system result in a similar expulsion?  What about education?  Many schools now have support "clubs" for GBSLT kids.  If I voiced anything negative about gays, would I be forced to a attend "remediation program" or forced to resign?


3)  If such cases continue, could this lead to universities dividing themselves along religious v. secular lines?  Would employers hire accordingly?

4)  Expanding outwards, what about the lawyer who refuses to represent a particular client due to the heinousness of the crime?  It's a special individual, indeed, who can muster the courage, strength and impartiality to represent someone like a child molester.  But, what about the lawyer who just can't?  Will the student be expelled from law school disbarred or the practicing lawyer disbarred?

Must an individual do what the University or State demands, even if it violates his or her conscience, whether based on religious principal, natural law, or some other form of spirituality?  Can an individual be forced?


Makes me consider donating to such groups as The Alliance Defense Fund, The Thomas More Law Center, and The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ).