A college student has been evicted from campus housing after she talked about receiving a religious exemption for the COVID vaccine requirement on social media.
A Michigan university has punished a student for breaching the school's code of conduct after she took to Facebook to talk about a religious exemption for the COVID vaccine requirement that she received. The student, Inara Ramazanova, was then evicted from campus housing and was given a disciplinary record in her student file at Oakland University (OU).
On Thursday, lawyers with First Liberty Institute, who represent Ramazanova, sent a letter to the Michigan university demanding that OU remove the disciplinary record on her student file and issue her a written apology, CBN News reported. The letter read that Ramazanova's parents did not agree to giving their daughter COVID vaccines in 2021 because of their religious beliefs. The family immigrated from Russia to the U.S. 13 years ago.
Michigan Student Sought Religious Exemptions from COVID Vaccine Requirement
Ramazanova never had to explain her religious objections to vaccinations in writing before. However, when Ramazanova requested an exemption from the Michigan university, a written statement was required. Upon researching how to best craft a written request, Ramazanova joined a private Facebook group about about religious accommodations for COVID vaccines.
The Michigan university granted Ramazanova's request for a COVID vaccine religious exemption, which then secured her place in on-campus housing for the upcoming semester. She then shared the news on the Facebook group, believing her experience might benefit others who were going through the same thing. But when OU found out that Ramazanova shared information on the Facebook group, she was told to either confess to "collusion or conspiracy" or attend a hearing with the University Conduct Committee, First Liberty Institute reported.
Michigan University Places Disciplinary Record on Student's File for Disclosing Information on Facebook
According to Ramazanova's attorneys, the Michigan university committee's decision to charge the student with violating school conduct policies became a hindrance for her to use a housing scholarship. Ramazanova was then forced to return home and resort to full-time online learning. Despite having graduated five months early in December, the disciplinary record will stay in the Michigan university student's file until 2028.
First Liberty Institute wrote in the letter that OU violated Ramazanova's First Amendment rights by "disciplining and evicting" because she "shared about her religious convictions regarding vaccination and about how she sought and received a religious accommodation from OU - all in an effort to more effectively exercise her civil rights and aid others in doing the same."
In the letter sent to OU on Thursday, the religious liberty group's Deputy General Counsel Justin Butterfield described the Michigan university's actions towards Ramazanova as "illegal" and "outrageous" and that evicting a student and "damaging their future pursuits" was "punitive and vindictive." It also accused OU of violating the Fair Housing Act. The group demanded that her disciplinary record be cleared and that they issued her an apology.
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