Danielle Powell was one semester short of graduation from Grace University in 2012 when she was suspended for being in a same-sex relationship and ordered to pay back $6,300 in scholarship money for a final semester she was never allowed to complete.

Grace University is a private Christian school in Omaha, Neb. that "prepares servant-leaders for life, ministry and service."

"My faith has always been a very foundational part of who I am, so when Grace University expelled me for loving someone, I felt deeply devastated and abandoned," Powell tells the Windy City Times.

Powell and her now-wife Michelle Rogers launched a petition this past weekend on Change.org to have the school forgive the debt. As of Friday, it has received more than 35,000 signatures.

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"I started this petition to demand justice for my wife and to shed light on Grace University's discriminatory disciplinary system. Depriving a student of an education and financial aid because they are in a same-sex relationship is bullying at its finest," says Rogers.

Powell played on the school's volleyball team for three years and started an on-campus homeless outreach program.

"College was always one of those things I never thought was an option for me because of my financial background," she tells the Huffington Post, noting she'd be the first in her family to get a degree. "It's something I've invested too much in to not finish."

The story is even further complicated by the fact that Powell says the school will not transfer her three and a half years worth of transcripts to another university unless she repays the debt. The school denies this allegation.

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As reported by the Huffinton Post, Powell was originally suspended back in March 2011 after the school discovered she was in a same-sex relationship. They revoked her scholarship, ordering her to pay that semester's tuition, but told her she would be allowed to enter into an "restoration" program with the hopes of eventually getting readmitted. Essentially, the school was trying to make her straight.

She agreed to program only because she was fearful of losing her credits by transferring to another school and because she didn't want to repay the money. But after the school found out she was still in a same-sex relationship, they denied her readmission.

"They were doing a witch hunt," Powell says, "calling around to see if I was in a same-sex relationship."

What are your thoughts on the school's expulsion? Because they are a private institution, do they have the legal right to kick her out of school? What about the moral implications of them doing so?