Powell was a student at Grace University in early 2011 when she
began her first same-sex relationship. The school found out about the relationship through a spiritual adviser at the school (so much for confidentiality), and they brought Powell before a judiciary board.The university ultimately decided in March 2011 to suspend her and not allow her to finish the semester, and she was told she now owed Grace over $6,000 after an academic scholarship she’d been awarded was revoked. In response, Powell has launched an online petition to pressure the school to forgive the debt.