Mississippi College administrators suspended disabled student veteran Jeremy Rawls, after he requested to meet with a non-Muslim counselor.
In an interview with Campus Reform, Rawls said he requested to change counselors after an initial meeting with his female counselor who was wearing traditional Muslim dress.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to participate… I didn’t want to traumatize her and it wasn’t a good environment to be talking about [my disabilities] with that specific person,” Rawls told Campus Reform.
Rawls served in the Marine Corps on two combat tours in Iraq. He also worked as a private contractor in Afghanistan and was a member of the Army National Guard for seven years. He has been diagnosed with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Rawls formed a student-led veterans association at MC with fellow student Stephen Pitts, a member of the Army National Guard. The two use their experiences to mentor other veterans at the college and help students with the transition from service to school.
In January, before the incident, Rawls praised Mississippi College for helping veterans enroll in school, according to a CBS 46 news report. Rawls said at the time that the college made it easy to adjust and interact with others.
However, administrators reportedly ignored Rawls’ many requests to meet and discuss the school’s policy to change counselors. Campus Reform reports that Rawls received an email on Feb. 26 suspending him from school pending a mental evaluation. Rawls was not permitted to attend classes or even be on campus without written permission. He was also removed from the work-study position he had obtained through the local VA.
After filling the school’s request for a mental evaluation, Rawls was permitted to begin attending classes again on March 16, however, he was told that he cannot attend on-campus events or participate in student organizations until he shows that he is able to handle his academic course load and regularly attend mental health therapy sessions.
Rawls filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and began seeking legal representation.
Mississippi College put out a statement on Tuesday, denying that Rawls was suspended because of his request to change counselors, but was unable to provide the reason for his suspension.
“MC would never intentionally place a student in a situation creating the sort of discomfort Rawls experienced,” President Lee Royce said.
According to the statement, Rawls met with school administrators on Friday, May 22 and was informed of the decision to lift his student work suspension. The administrators thanked Rawls for helping the university clarify some of its working procedures related to disabilities and coordinating with the VA.
Rawls plans to graduate from Mississippi College next spring.
