NEBRASKA – Danielle Powell was close to earning her diploma in 2012, until Grace University discovered her lesbian relationship. The university responded by kicking her out, rescinding her scholarship and sacking her with a $6,300 tuition bill.

Now, Powell is fighting back with an online petition to get the school to relinquish the debt. Powell began her same-sex relationship in 2011-the first time she identified as gay. When Grace, religious institution, found out about the relationship, they ordered Powell to a judiciary board to determine if she should stay or not.

Though the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act bars the institution from publicly discussing a student’s record, Grace’s handbook states that “Any student involved in sexually immoral behavior, including premarital sex, adultery, and homosexual acts, is at minimum placed on University probation and may be subject to a Judiciary Hearing.”