A University of Oklahoma student says she is the victim of religious discrimination because a psychology instructor gave her a zero for an essay that cited the Bible and said that “the lie that there are multiple genders” is “demonic.”
The complaint by the student, Samantha Fulnecky, follows a series of similar conflicts at colleges around the country over how professors should talk about gender in the classroom, a battle in which each side insists it is protecting academic freedom and First Amendment rights.
The instructor who flunked Ms. Fulnecky on the essay has been placed on administrative leave while the school investigates the episode, according to a statement the University of Oklahoma posted on social media. The instructor is a graduate student at the university.
Dozens of professors have lost their jobs or been disciplined in recent months over issues related to political speech, often because of posts on social media. Texas A&M University fired a faculty member who was accused of teaching a course that recognized more than two genders, after a video of her discussing gender in class was posted online.
In the University of Oklahoma case, the school conducted a formal grade appeal process, which “resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignment,” the school said.
The instructor, who was not named in the university’s statement, declined to comment, writing in an email that, “as advised by my lawyer, I will not be making any public statements at this time.”
The Oklahoman newspaper reported that the instructor, in explaining Ms. Fulnecky’s poor grade, wrote that she had deducted points because the essay “does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive.”
The story of Ms. Fulnecky’s complaint over her grade was amplified by the university’s chapter of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, in a Nov. 27 post on X. By Tuesday, that post had drawn 40 million views and thousands of online comments.
Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican, weighed in on social media, saying that the “1st Amendment is foundational to our freedom & inseparable from a well rounded education.” He called the situation at the university “deeply concerning.”
“I’m calling on the OU regents to review the results of the investigation & ensure other students aren’t unfairly penalized for their beliefs,” Mr. Stitt posted.
Ms. Fulnecky’s efforts to protest her grade have also attracted extensive criticism on social media.
Richard Hanania, a conservative political scientist and writer, posted on social media, “You have to pass students who only cite religious faith for their opinions now or they’re victims of discrimination.”
Ms. Fulnecky’s assignment was to read a scholarly article on “gender typicality, peer relations, and mental health,” and then write a “thoughtful discussion of some aspect of the article,” according to documents posted by The Oklahoman.
In her essay, Ms. Fulnecky wrote: “The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarily see this as a problem. God made male and female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a purpose.”
“I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence,” she continued, adding that she did not want children to be teased or bullied.
Ms. Fulnecky could not be reached Tuesday. Her mother, a lawyer, did not immediately return an email sent to her law office.
In an interview with KOCO-TV, Ms. Fulnecky said she did not intend her essay to be offensive. “But the truth will naturally offend people,” she said.
After receiving a zero grade, out of a possible score of 25, on her essay, Ms. Fulnecky contacted Ryan Walters, a conservative educator and chief executive of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, according to a spokeswoman for the alliance, a group that works to limit the influence of teachers’ unions.
“Samantha Fulnecky is an American hero,” Mr. Walters, who recently stepped down as the Oklahoma state superintendent of schools, said in a statement. He argued that any university employees who were involved in her bad grade should be fired.
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