IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

Julea Ward,

Plaintiff,

vs.

The Members of the Board of Control of

Eastern Michigan University—Roy Wilbanks,

Floyd Clack, Gary D. Hawks, Philip A.

Incarnati, Mohamed Okdie, Francine

Parker, Thomas W. Sidlik, and James F.

Stapleton—all in their individual and official

capacities; Dr. Susan Martin, in her

individual and official capacities as President

of Eastern Michigan University; Dr. Vernon

Polite, in his individual and official capacities

as Dean of the College of Education at Eastern

Michigan University; Dr. Irene Ametrano, in

her individual and official capacities as

Professor of Counseling at Eastern Michigan

University; Dr. Perry Francis, in his

individual and official capacities as Associate

Professor of Counseling at Eastern Michigan

University; Dr. Gary Marx, in his individual

and official capacities as Assistant Professor of

Educational Leadership at Eastern Michigan

University; Paula Stanifer, in her individual

and official capacities as Student Member of

the Formal Review Committee; Dr. Yvonne

Callaway, in her individual and official

capacities as Professor of Counseling at

Eastern Michigan University; Dr. Suzanne

Dugger, in her individual and official

capacities as Professor of Counseling at

Eastern Michigan University,

Defendants.

Case No. 09-cv-11237

Hon. George Caram Steeh

Magistrate Judge Paul J. Komives

DECLARATION OF DR. PERRY C. FRANCIS

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I, DR. PERRY C. FRANCIS, submit this Declaration in support of Defendants’ Brief in

Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction. I am over the age of 18 and am

competent to testify to the facts stated herein. All statements made herein are based upon my

personal knowledge.

1. My name is Perry C. Francis.

2. I am a tenured faculty member at Eastern Michigan University (“EMU”), and an

Associate Professor in EMU’s Department of Leadership and Counseling, teaching numerous

courses in EMU’s graduate counseling program (the “Program”). I also am the Coordinator of

Counseling Services for the Program, which requires that I manage the Counseling Clinic of the

EMU College of Education. One of the components of the Counseling Clinic relates to clinical

counseling by student Counselors-in-Training enrolled in the Practicum courses of the Program.

3. Prior to coming to EMU, I also served in capacities including Interim Department

Head of the Texas A&M University-Commerce Department of Counseling, and as Coordinator,

School Counseling Program and Clinical Coordinator, School Counseling Practicum at

Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

4. I am a graduate of the University of Arizona, and received a Doctorate Degree in

Counselor Education from the University of Northern Colorado.

5. I also hold a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Pacific Theological Seminary, and

from 1983 until 1996, I served as Parish & Campus Pastor, in the Evangelical Lutheran Church

in America, for church congregations in Fort Morgan, Colorado; Price, Utah; and Littleton,

Colorado, and served in campus ministry at the University of Northern Colorado. I remain

active, in an unofficial leadership capacity, in the Lord of Light Lutheran Church Campus

Ministry.

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6. Among the licenses and certifications that I hold are that of a Licensed

Professional Counselor in the States of Michigan, Texas, and Louisiana, and a National Certified

Counselor, certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors. I have authored numerous,

articles, book chapters, and other publications, and have conducted numerous presentations,

workshops, and roundtables, on counseling-related issues.

7. I have served in numerous leadership roles in national and state professional

counseling associations and organizations, and am currently the Treasurer of the Michigan

Counseling Association.

8. My curriculum vita is attached hereto.

9. I am named as a Defendant in this lawsuit brought by Julea Ward (“Ms. Ward”).

10. On January 26, 2009, I learned from the Counseling Clinic secretary that Ms.

Ward had indicated that she needed to cancel a client appointment that was scheduled to take

place within the hour. I also learned from Ms. Ward’s Practicum supervisor, Dr. Yvonne

Callaway, that Ms. Ward had cancelled the appointment because she refused to counsel a

homosexual client regarding the client’s homosexual relationship.

11. As a result of Ms. Ward’s refusal to counsel the client, the Counseling Clinic was

forced to call the client to cancel appointment, and to reschedule it to occur on another date, with

another Counselor-in-Training.

12. One of the Program’s functions is to serve as a gatekeeper for the counseling

profession. As part of its gatekeeper function, the Program is responsible for ensuring that

graduates of the Program have the requisite skills, knowledge base, and professional disposition,

and that they are familiar with and will adhere in their professional conduct to the profession’s

standards of conduct and codes of ethics.

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13. An integral component of the Program and its curriculum therefore is comprised

of the professional ethical codes, including the American Counseling Association’s (“ACA”)

Code of Ethics and the American School Counselor Association’s (“ASCA”) Ethical Standards

for School Counselors.

14. The Program’s Counseling Student Handbook (“Handbook”) thus references,

incorporates, and includes within it the entire text of, the ACA Code of Ethics and the ASCA

Ethical Standards for School Counselors.

15. The Handbook (and the ethical requirements contained within it) constitute an

important part of the Program’s curriculum, and is designed and enforced in part to ensure that

clients’ interests are protected and that the Program retains its accreditation through the Council

for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.

16. It is my understanding that Ms. Ward, at the time of the incident on January 26,

2009, Ward was enrolled in COUN 686, Counseling Practicum I (“Practicum”), a course that

provides Counselors-in-Training with opportunities to work with diverse clients and client

situations and to afford students a structured and supportive environment in which to apply

counseling theories, techniques, and skills learned in previous coursework, in a real-life setting.

17. Practicum utilizes a Practicum Manual that clearly and specifically requires that

students abide by the ACA Code of Ethics, and adhere to the ethics of all professional

associations, including the ACA and the ASCA. The Practicum Manual also includes the full

text of the ACA Code of Ethics. Additionally, the Practicum Manual includes an Informed

Consent & Disclosure form, which Counselors-in-Training must sign and provide to clients, that

expressly requires students to adhere to the ACA Code of Ethics.

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18. It is my understanding that prior to the incident on January 26, 2009, Ms. Ward

had counseled another client in the Counseling Clinic, and had signed and provided to that client

the Informed Consent & Disclosure form, thereby acknowledging her obligation to adhere to the

ACA Code of Ethics.

19. One of the hallmarks of the counseling profession is the requirement that

counselors must receive clients as they are, and work within the value system of the client,

whatever it may be. Counselors are not required or expected to “affirm” any behavior, but rather

to work within the client’s value system.

20. Having participated in Ms. Ward’s formal review, it is my understanding that,

during her participation in Practicum, Ms. Ward adamantly indicated an unwillingness to abide

by the hallmark of the counseling profession that required her to counsel within the value system

of her clients, and that she refused to adhere to the applicable professional ethical codes and

standards, including the ACA Code of Ethics and the ASCA Ethical Standards for School

Counselors.

21. It is my understanding and firm belief that Ms. Ward’s dismissal from the

Program was based solely on her conduct in refusing to counsel clients within the clients’ own

value systems, and in refusing to abide by the applicable codes of ethics, and was not in any way

based on her religious or other beliefs or expressions.

22. It is my understanding and experience that the Program has educated and

graduated many students with strong religious (including Christian) backgrounds and beliefs, and

that the Program’s faculty similarly includes many persons of strong religious (including

Christian) faith.

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I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, 28

U.S.C. § 1746, that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on May 13, 2009, at Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Perry C. Francis

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