Augusta State Univ. To Counseling Student: Change
Your Beliefs Or Get Out
ADF Attorneys File Suit After University Officials
Require Counseling Student To Abandon Her Beliefs To
Get A Degree
AUGUSTA,
Georgia, July 22, 2010 — Attorneys with the
Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against Augusta State
University Wednesday on behalf of a counseling student
told that her Christian beliefs are unethical and incompatible
with the prevailing views of the counseling profession. The
student, Jennifer
Keeton, has been told to stop sharing her beliefs
with others and that she must change her beliefs in
order to graduate from the counseling program.
Augusta State ordered Keeton to undergo a re-education
plan, in which she must attend “diversity sensitivity
training,” complete additional remedial reading,
and write papers to describe their impact on her beliefs. If
she does not change her beliefs or agree to the plan,
the university says it will expel her from the Counselor
Education Program.
“A public university student shouldn’t
be threatened with expulsion for being a Christian
and refusing to publicly renounce her faith, but that’s
exactly what’s happening here. Simply put,
the university is imposing thought reform,” said
ADF Senior Counsel David French. “Abandoning
one’s own religious beliefs should not be a precondition
at a public university for obtaining a degree. This
type of leftist zero-tolerance policy is in place at
far too many universities, and it must stop. Jennifer’s
only crime was to have the beliefs that she does.”
Keeton, 24, is pursuing her master’s degree in
counseling at Augusta State. After her professors
learned of her biblical beliefs, specifically her views
on homosexual conduct, from both classroom discussions
and private conversations with other students, the
school imposed the re-education plan. Keeton never
denigrated anyone in communicating her beliefs but
merely stated factually what they were in appropriate
contexts.
The plan assails Keeton’s beliefs as inconsistent
with the counseling profession and expresses suspicion
over “Jen’s ability to be a multiculturally
competent counselor, particularly with regard to working
with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning
(GLBTQ) populations.” The plan requires
her to take steps to change her beliefs through additional
assignments and additional “diversity sensitivity
training.” It also orders her to “work
to increase exposure and interactions with gay populations. One
such activity could be attending the Gay Pride Parade
in Augusta.”
Each month, Keeton is required to complete a report
on how the “remediation” assignments have
influenced her beliefs so that faculty can “decide
the appropriateness of her continuation in the counseling
program.” The plan concludes by noting that “failure
to complete all elements of the remediation plan will
result in dismissal from the Counselor Education Program.”
ADF attorneys filed the complaint and
a motion
for preliminary injunction in Keeton
v. Anderson-Wiley with the U.S. District Court
for the District of Georgia. ADF is currently
litigating a
similar case involving a counseling student at
Eastern Michigan University and successfully resolved
a case at Missouri State University. Also
in litigation is a
case involving a Georgia counselor fired by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because
she would not agree to affirm homosexual behavior as
morally acceptable.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys
and like-minded organizations defending the right of
people to freely live out their faith. Launched
in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy,
training, funding, and litigation to protect and
preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage,
and the family.
# # #
Keeton
v. Anderson-Wiley :
What’s at Stake?
· Whether
a university may force a Christian student to choose
between her faith and a degree.
· Whether
a university may threaten to expel a student for holding
mainstream Christian beliefs.
· Whether
a Christian student may be severely punished by a public
university merely for disagreeing with ideas the school
has decided are "correct."
· Whether
a public university may control what a student thinks
and says - even outside of class.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Alliance Defense Fund
15333 North Pima Road Suite 165
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Phone: 1-800-TELL-ADF
Fax: 480-444-0025
Website: www.alliancedefensefund.org
ADF Attorneys File Suit After University Officials Require Counseling Student To Abandon Her Beliefs To Get A Degree
AUGUSTA,
Georgia, July 22, 2010 — Attorneys with the
Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against Augusta State
University Wednesday on behalf of a counseling student
told that her Christian beliefs are unethical and incompatible
with the prevailing views of the counseling profession. The
student, Jennifer
Keeton, has been told to stop sharing her beliefs
with others and that she must change her beliefs in
order to graduate from the counseling program.
Augusta State ordered Keeton to undergo a re-education
plan, in which she must attend “diversity sensitivity
training,” complete additional remedial reading,
and write papers to describe their impact on her beliefs. If
she does not change her beliefs or agree to the plan,
the university says it will expel her from the Counselor
Education Program.
“A public university student shouldn’t
be threatened with expulsion for being a Christian
and refusing to publicly renounce her faith, but that’s
exactly what’s happening here. Simply put,
the university is imposing thought reform,” said
ADF Senior Counsel David French. “Abandoning
one’s own religious beliefs should not be a precondition
at a public university for obtaining a degree. This
type of leftist zero-tolerance policy is in place at
far too many universities, and it must stop. Jennifer’s
only crime was to have the beliefs that she does.”
Keeton, 24, is pursuing her master’s degree in
counseling at Augusta State. After her professors
learned of her biblical beliefs, specifically her views
on homosexual conduct, from both classroom discussions
and private conversations with other students, the
school imposed the re-education plan. Keeton never
denigrated anyone in communicating her beliefs but
merely stated factually what they were in appropriate
contexts.
The plan assails Keeton’s beliefs as inconsistent
with the counseling profession and expresses suspicion
over “Jen’s ability to be a multiculturally
competent counselor, particularly with regard to working
with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning
(GLBTQ) populations.” The plan requires
her to take steps to change her beliefs through additional
assignments and additional “diversity sensitivity
training.” It also orders her to “work
to increase exposure and interactions with gay populations. One
such activity could be attending the Gay Pride Parade
in Augusta.”
Each month, Keeton is required to complete a report
on how the “remediation” assignments have
influenced her beliefs so that faculty can “decide
the appropriateness of her continuation in the counseling
program.” The plan concludes by noting that “failure
to complete all elements of the remediation plan will
result in dismissal from the Counselor Education Program.”
ADF attorneys filed the complaint and
a motion
for preliminary injunction in Keeton
v. Anderson-Wiley with the U.S. District Court
for the District of Georgia. ADF is currently
litigating a
similar case involving a counseling student at
Eastern Michigan University and successfully resolved
a case at Missouri State University. Also
in litigation is a
case involving a Georgia counselor fired by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because
she would not agree to affirm homosexual behavior as
morally acceptable.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
# # #
|
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Alliance Defense Fund
15333 North Pima Road Suite 165
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
Phone: 1-800-TELL-ADF
Fax: 480-444-0025
Website: www.alliancedefensefund.org