A student unwanted by one Lackawanna County university for being gay could find a home — and a degree — at a different local college.

Clarks Summit University dismissed Gary Campbell last month after learning he is gay. Campbell wanted to re-enroll at the school this fall to earn online the remaining six credits he needs for a bachelor's degree and a job working with recovering addicts. The South Abington Twp. school prohibits its students from engaging in same-sex relationships.

After reading about Campbell in Monday's Times-Tribune, Lackawanna College President Mark Volk offered to help.

"For us, it's about giving people that opportunity, that chance to move forward in their lives and their careers," Volk said. "When I read it, I thought maybe we could do something. ... I sent a note to staff, and there is tremendous excitement about it."

The college previously worked with students who were just a class or two shy of a degree, aligning the students' courses with degree requirements from Lackawanna.

Volk is optimistic the college will be able to take most of the credits Campbell earned from the former Baptist Bible College and put them toward a Lackawanna College degree. Campbell said other schools will only accept about half of his 109 credits.

"We look at the whole person," Volk said. "Maybe we can do something here to help him out."

Campbell, 35, attended the school, then known as Baptist Bible College, from 2001 to 2003. Though he knew he was gay at the time, he said he thought he could change. He dropped out, hoping to save money by attending a community college, but never graduated. Alcoholism eventually led to his discharge from the Navy. Now sober for 19 months, Campbell wants a job in which he can help people in recovery.

Clarks Summit University, an independent Baptist school, expects students to act in a way consistent with its biblical belief system, college officials said last week. There is no law that prohibits a religious school from excluding a student who is gay.

After the story published in The Times-Tribune, a Times-Shamrock newspaper, Campbell said he received numerous messages of support and offers of help from strangers.

Campbell, who lives in Youngstown, Ohio, said he is eager to learn about options from Lackawanna College.

"It's just amazing," he said.

Contact the writer:

shofius@timesshamrock.com

570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT