Tag Archives: ZZ: Ward v. Wilbanks

Fox News: “The decision, according to Julea Ward’s attorneys, could result in students across the country being expelled from public universities 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’ . . . ‘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.’” | ADF News Release

Inside Higher Ed: “[David French], a senior counsel to the Alliance Defense Fund, said that in the Supreme Court case and the Eastern Michigan ruling, ‘a disturbing trend’ is emerging of ‘what I would call excessive deference to university administrators’ to define limits around ‘the market place of ideas.’ French said that, in contrast to the view that academe should feature ‘a freewheeling exchange of ideas,’ these rulings ‘permit restrictions’ on religious students and groups. And he said that the Eastern Michigan ruling may create a new way for public universities to enforce speech codes — simply by making them into curricular requirements.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education: “The Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers that is helping to represent the student, Julea Ward, issued a statement on Tuesday saying it plans to appeal the judge’s decision. ‘Christian students shouldn’t be expelled for holding to and abiding by their beliefs,’ said [David French], a senior counsel for the group, which helped out in a similar lawsuit filed against Augusta State University, in Georgia, this month.” | ADF News Release

ADF Attorney David French writing at Speak Up Movement / University: Late yesterday afternoon we received word that the federal district court granted the university’s motion for summary judgment dismissing Julea Ward’s case against officials from Eastern Michigan University. The opinion contains a cascading series of assumptions that made it virtually impossible for Julea to prevail, and we will appeal promptly. | ADF News Release

Media Newswire: “The court ruled in EMU’s favor and dismissed all claims brought by Ward and the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom. ‘We are pleased that the court has upheld our position in this matter,’ said Walter Kraft, vice president for communications at Eastern Michigan University. ‘Julea Ward was not discriminated against because of her religion. To the contrary, Eastern Michigan is deeply committed to the education of our students and welcomes individuals from diverse backgrounds into our community.’”

Detroit Free Press: “Lawyers for a national religious liberty group said they plan to appeal a federal judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former Eastern Michigan University graduate student who said she was kicked out of a master’s program because she refused on religious grounds to counsel a homosexual client. ‘There are aspects of the decision that present appealable issues and we disagree with the court on his conclusions,’ [David French], a lawyer for Alliance Defense Fund said today.” | ADF News Release

University banished graduate counseling student for not affirming homosexual behavior

ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on the Jody Hice Show to discuss the Julia Ward case and escalating threats to Religious Freedom on university campuses across the country. | MP3 17:32 mins

ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco appeared on radio to discuss the case of a Christian counseling student persecuted for opposing the homosexual agenda.  | The Vicki McKenna Show here: MP3 12:39 mins | Reality Check Live here: MP3 13:29 mins | ADF Media Information resource page

ADF attorney David French appeared with Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Institute on Point of View Radio to discuss the Julia Ward case. | MP3 8:27 mins

OneNewsNow: “A U.S. district judge has heard arguments in a case involving a graduate student in Michigan who was dismissed from a counseling program for not affirming homosexual behavior. … ‘Our client explained very clearly to [university officials] that this is a matter of religious belief and conviction [said ADF Attorney Jeremy Tedesco] and they discarded that and said “We don’t care, we’re going to kick you out anyways. We have no interest in accommodating your religious beliefs. You just need to believe like we do or we’re going to kick you out of the program.”‘”

Christian Web News: “In March 2009, Julea Ward was dimissed from EMU’s graduate counseling program because she did not agree that homosexual behavior was morally acceptable. The Alliance Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University on behalf of Julea Ward; a hearing will be held on Thursday. … ‘Christian students shouldn’t be expelled for abiding by their beliefs,’ said [David French]. ‘Affirming homosexual behavior against one’s own religious beliefs should not be a precondition at a public university for obtaining a degree.’”

Eastern Michigan University ousted student from counseling program for not affirming homosexual behavior; ADF attorney available to media after hearing

ADF Attorney Kevin Theriot writing at speakupmovement.org/church: “Yes, the Church is still relevant for young people, and will continue to be – so long as she stands strong for biblical truth, and fulfills her role as the moral compass of society. For instance, we should be encouraged by what some brave young college students are doing today to stand up for religious liberty and God’s word. View Julea Ward’s story here.”

AnnArbor.com: “Lawmakers in the Michigan Senate are demanding the state’s public universities report on how they’re protecting the religious beliefs of students in counseling degree programs, nearly a year after an advocacy group sued Eastern Michigan University on behalf of student Julea Ward . . . In April 2009, the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom, a conservative public interest group focusing on religious freedom sued EMU alleging Ward’s civil rights were violated when she was dismissed from her counseling degree program at EMU because of her religious beliefs regarding homosexuality.”

ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco on the Complete Story with Dick Bott to discuss this: E. Mich. Univ. ousts student for not affirming homosexual behavior. | The MP3 runs just over 28 minutes.

ADF Attorney Travis C. Barham writing at speakupmovement.org/university: “Each year, the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association (NAGAAA) sponsors the ‘Gay Softball World Series.’ But three bisexual men—represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights—filed a discrimination suit in Seattle, Washington because their team was disqualified for having too many ‘heterosexual’ players. And what is the NAGAAA’s response? Well, it claims it is a private organization and ‘can determine its membership based on its goals.’ At one point, the players were told, ‘This is the Gay World Series, not the Bisexual World Series.’ Does this sound vaguely familiar? All of a sudden, portions of the homosexual community recognize the importance of the freedom of association, which comes as a refreshing change.”

OneNewsNow: “The Michigan legislature is working on a measure in the state higher education budget that would require state-funded universities to report steps they’re making to protect religious freedom on campus . . . In early April 2009, [Julea] Ward brought a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University through the Alliance Defense Fund, claiming a violation of her constitutional rights.”

WorldNetDaily: “Now members of the Michigan Senate have approved legislation that includes a provision calling on university counseling programs to evaluate and affirm how they can accommodate the religious beliefs of students . . . According to a column posted by David French of the Alliance Defense Fund, the lawsuit is over the fact that Eastern expelled Ward ‘not because she harmed anyone but simply because she was unwilling to express support for things she did not believe.’”

The Eastern Echo: “A federal judge denied Eastern Michigan University’s move for dismissal or summary judgment of former EMU counseling graduate student Julea Ward’s case March 24. … Jeremy Tedesco, Ward’s lawyer, said that while it is not a final decision, this is ‘an important win in the case.’ ‘Essentially what it means is that the defendants who remain in the case can be held personally responsible if the judge ultimately decides that Julea’s rights were violated,’ he said. Tedesco is seeking the answer to what he believes is the biggest concern of the case. ‘The question in the case is –can a student maintain adherence to their most core and fundamental religious beliefs and still get a degree from Eastern Michigan University?’”

OneNewsNow: “A Michigan woman [Julea Ward] denied a Master’s degree in counseling will have her day in court . . . ‘The school said, ‘Well, you have to.’ And Julea said, ‘Well, that would violate my fundamental religious beliefs to do that’ — and they said, ‘Sorry, you’re dismissed from our program,” [recounts] Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Jeremy Tedesco]. ‘And so the real fundamental question here is, can Christians maintain adherence to their core beliefs and still get a degree from a public school?’”

WorldNetDaily: “A federal judge will allow to continue a lawsuit by a former student against a long list of university officials who tossed her out of a graduate counseling program after she said her Christian beliefs would not allow her to affirm homosexual behavior . . . [David French], senior counsel for the ADF, said then, ‘When a public university has a prerequisite of affirming homosexual behavior as morally good in order to obtain a degree, the school is stepping over the legal line.’”

Wendy Kaminer writing at The Atlantic: In the Ward and Mendell cases, ‘complainants are wielding the canons of professional ethics as if they were blasphemy codes for the state church and you have to punish these people as heretics,’ Alliance Defense Fund attorney Jordon Lorence asserts. ‘Who’s being the narrow minded fundamentalist and who’s being the civil libertarian in these discussions?’ . . . Not surprisingly, the right wing, anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund is perhaps the primary defender of First Amendment rights in cases involving the anti-gay speech and belief of conservative Christians. ADF receives (and perhaps desires) little assistance from the ACLU, an increasingly unreliable defender of speech and belief that conflict with its gay rights agenda.”