A pro-life midwifery student won the apology and settlement of her university's placement ban after several months of battling for justice.
The 25-year old Julia Rynkiewicz was suspended from her studies at the Nottingham University and was, thereafter, banned from her hospital placement after exercising her religious beliefs as a Roman Catholic, ReMix reported.
In particular, Rynkiewicz' pro-life beliefs put her in a bad light against the university that's known to be pro-abortion.
She organized, during a welcome event for new students, a pro-life stand that caught the attention of the university's authorities. She was informed through a letter sent days after the welcome event that a formal complaint was filed against her.
According to the Catholic News Agency, Rynkiewicz was the president of the pro-life student group Nottingham Students for Life at that time. The Nottingham Students for Life was not recognized by the Student Union in the beginning but was accepted of its affiliation eventually.
She was immediately suspended and was put under investigation for four months. The investigation was dismissed but still affected her studies and even denied her financial assistance, said The Christian Institute.
Afterwards, her professors almost caused her expulsion when they questioned her credibility to practice as a midwife considering her religious beliefs.
These string of events prompted Rynkiewicz to finally file a complaint against the university through the aid of Alliance Defending Freedom.
She raised that her pro-life beliefs do not clash with her midwife duties, meaning it does not conflict with her fitness to practice her profession as a midwife. She stressed that universities should be a place that encourages dialogue among students of various beliefs and not otherwise.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Rynkiewicz stressed the mental and emotional hardship she underwent because of this ordeal.
"What happened to me risks creating a fear among students to discuss their values and beliefs, but university should be the place where you are invited to do just that," she said.
Now that she won the case, Rynkiewicz will receive a full apology and a payout from her university as part of the settlement. She said that this proves the unjust treatment done her.
"The settlement demonstrates that the university's treatment of me was wrong," she told The Daily Telegraph in an interview. "I hope this means that no other student will have to experience what I have."
Meanwhile, Nottingham University, through its spokesperson, admitted the need to be an open venue for the diverse beliefs and to devise the best approach for this in the future.
"While all universities take fitness-to-practice considerations extremely seriously, the university has offered an apology and settlement to Ms Rynkiewicz and is considering how we might approach such cases differently in future," the university said.
"Universities should be spaces to debate, discuss and disagree points of view, and with more than 200 student societies, covering the full range of beliefs and perspectives, we are confident this is the case at Nottingham."
Notwithstanding, the university emphasized its support of the law for access to safe services on legal abortion and the students' rights to this.
