Summary
Emily Brooker was a quiet student working on her master’s degree in social work at Missouri State University. But when one of her professors told the class that they had to sign a letter to the Missouri legislature advocating in favor of same-sex adoption, Emily experienced the intolerance of the left on public university campuses today.
During her time at Missouri State, Emily had already help found a Christian sorority, and was volunteering at a local Christian outreach in the form of a coffee shop. She was looking for more ways to put her Christian faith into practice, and she found it—in class.
Emily asked for an alternate assignment, and at first her professor relented. But a few days later, Emily’s professor charged her with a level three grievance – the highest form of punishment in the School of Social Work at Missouri State.
Where many students would have simply signed the letter and moved onto other homework, Emily knew doing so would conflict with everything she believed. She would have betrayed herself and her faith.
Emily says, “It wasn’t just ‘Look at this population and write about it’ … it was, ‘You are going to put your name on something.’ It was like endorsing it, and I said, ‘No, I can’t do this. I do not want my name on any document that says I am going to support the homosexual agenda.’”
Missouri State University dragged Emily alone before a faculty panel, interrogated her about her religious beliefs, and then forced her to sign a contract saying she would not let her religious views get in the way of her school work, or she would be expelled from school. Emily was asked to abandon her faith as a condition of getting a social work degree at Missouri State University. Emily turned to a local attorney, who happened to also be an Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney.
Alliance Defending Freedom sprang into action for Emily, filed a lawsuit on her behalf, and in less than a week, Missouri State University settled the case in Emily’s favor. As a result of the lawsuit, the university hired outside investigators to examine the School of Social Work. The investigators found that the school was a toxic environment where students were fearful of questioning their professors and expressing their ideas. The investigators recommended that the school be closed and reopened with new faculty, and the professor who had charged Emily with a grievance was put on leave.
Alliance Defending Freedom fought for Emily, and her right to be free from saying things that violated her faith. Alliance Defending Freedom continues to fight for the rights of many college students like Emily to freely express their faith on campus.
Case timeline
- Fall 2005: A professor at Missouri State University tried to require Emily to sign a letter to the state legislature advocating for same-sex adoption. Emily asked for an alternate assignment, and after initially refusing, the professor agreed.
- December 2005: Emily was informed that she was being charged with a Level 3 Grievance, the highest level of complaint in the School of Social Work. She was forced to meet with faculty and staff, who told her she must compromise her religious beliefs to continue pursuing her degree.
- October 2006: ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on Emily’s behalf.
- November 2006: Missouri State officials agreed to a settlement in which they purged the grievance from Emily’s record, required the professor to resign from his administrative duties, and placed the professor on non-teaching leave for the remainder of the semester.
