Christian Educator Wins Suit Against DePauw Univ.
by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
November 21, 2003
(AgapePress) - A jury has ruled in favor of an Indiana woman who lost her teaching job at a United Methodist university for distributing Christian magazines in her classroom.
An Indiana court has awarded former DePauw University instructor Janis Price more than $10,000 in wages she lost after the school suspended her for distributing some of Focus on the Family's Teachers in Focus magazines.
Price says following a complaint from one student who found the materials offensive, DePauw's vice president for Academic Affairs, Neal B. Abraham, cut her pay by 25%, stripped her of all her titles, suspended her teaching duties, and placed her on probation.
The controversy started over an article in an issue of a Christian educators' magazine, a periodical Price had long made available in her classroom, without requiring students to read it. The topic of the offending article in Teachers in Focus was homosexual activism in schools. Even though Price never discussed the article directly or voiced her personal beliefs in class, a student complained to university officials that she was offended by the material.
The former teaching instructor claims the school has harassed her because of her Christian faith. Although DePauw was originally founded on Methodist principles back in 1837, Price says its modern-day attitude toward faith is very different.
"Because the topic was homosexuality, and because DePauw has become anti-evangelical Christian and pro-homosexual, and because this was really cutting at the core of what they are trying to do on campus, I was discriminated against and harassed," the former instructor says.
After the student complained, Price was called before university officials, questioned about her beliefs, and subsequently penalized and accused of "professional intolerance." Although the school continued to employ her in an administrative position, Price was no longer allowed to teach, having been accused of deliberately creating a "hostile environment."
But according to the court's finding, it is the DePauw's officials, and particularly Abraham, who created a hostile work environment -- and violated Price's First Amendment rights in the process. After a five-day trial, the court awarded Price the full amount of her lost wages for a year.
Despite her legal battle with DePauw, Price is not considering vacating her position as an administrator in the school's education department. The educator says she sees herself "not leaving, but rather standing up for the truth and maintaining a sense of peace and joy in the face of persecution, because that does speak volumes to people."
Price says she and her husband have received an outpouring of moral support from the community and from several former students throughout her ordeal. And although her career status and her standing at the university have been damaged, she is not bitter, and remains committed to making a positive impact at DePauw and "being light and salt where we need to be light and salt."
