Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay
The University of Oklahoma has fired a professor accused by a student of religious discrimination because of a failing grade in a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and claimed that promoting a “belief in many genders” was “demonic.”
The university said in a statement Monday on X that its investigation found the graduate teaching assistant was “arbitrary” in awarding zero points to Samantha Fulnecky, a 20-year-old junior, for the assignment. The university declined to comment beyond its statement that the instructor “will no longer have teaching duties.”
Through his attorney, the instructor, Mel Curth, denied Tuesday that he “engaged in arbitrary behavior regarding the student’s work.” The attorney, Brittany Stewart, said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that Curth is “considering all of his legal remedies.”
Conservative groups, commentators and others quickly made Fulnecky’s failure a cause online, highlighting her argument that she had been punished for expressing conservative Christian views. Her case has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over academic freedom on college campuses, as President Donald Trump works to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and restrict how campuses discuss race, gender and sexuality.
Fulnecky appealed his grade for the assignment, which was worth 3 percent of the final grade for the class, and the university said the assignment would not count. It also put Curth on leave, and Oklahoma’s conservative Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, declared the situation “deeply concerning.”
“The University of Oklahoma firmly believes in the right of its professors to teach with academic freedom and integrity and in the right of its students to receive an education free from a professor’s unacceptable evaluation standards,” the university’s statement said. “We are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think. »
A law approved this year by Oklahoma’s Republican-majority Legislature and signed by Stitt prohibits state universities from using state funds to fund DEI programs or positions or requiring DEI training. However, the law specifies that it does not apply to scientific research or “the academic freedom of any individual faculty member.”
Fulnecky’s home phone lists in the Springfield, Missouri, area had been disconnected, and his mother — an attorney, podcaster and radio host — did not immediately respond Tuesday to a Facebook message seeking comment on the university’s action.
Fulnecky’s failing grade came as part of an assignment for a psychology course on lifespan development. Curth asked students to write a 650-word response to a college study examining whether conformity to gender norms was associated with popularity or bullying among middle school students.
Fulnecky wrote that she was frustrated with the mission principle because she does not believe there are more than two genders based on her understanding of the Bible, according to a copy of her essay provided to The Oklahoman.
“The society that propagates the lie that there are many genders and that everyone should be whatever they want is demonic and is seriously harming America’s youth,” she wrote, adding that it would lead society “away from God’s original plan for humans.”
In comments obtained by the newspaper, Curth said the newspaper “failed to answer questions about the mission,” contradicted itself, relied on “personal ideology” rather than evidence and “is sometimes offensive.”
“Please note that I do not deduct points because you have certain beliefs,” Curth wrote.
