The Daily Populous Wednesday December 24th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by ChiGuy6124

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The University of Oklahoma has removed a teaching assistant who gave a student an F grade on a psychology paper which sparked outrage from conservatives and prompted claims of religious discrimination.

“Based on an examination of the graduate teaching assistant's prior grading standards and patterns, as well as the graduate teaching assistant's own statements related to this matter, it was determined that the graduate teaching assistant was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper,” the University said in a Monday statement.

“The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the University.”

It comes after Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the university, reported her psychology instructor Mel Curth after receiving the grade and claimed she received zero points out of 25 “for my beliefs and using freedom of speech, and especially for my religious beliefs."

The assignment was to write a 650-word essay reacting to a psychology article about the effect of gender norms on middle school students and their impact on mental health.

open image in gallery The University of Oklahoma has removed a teaching assistant who gave a student an F grade on a psychology paper which sparked outrage from conservatives and prompted claims of religious discrimination. ( Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

open image in gallery Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the University of Oklahoma, filed a discrimination complaint after she received a failing grade on a psychology essay. ( Turning Point USA OU )

Fulnecky’s complaint was promoted by the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit founded by Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September. The group posted Fulnecky’s essay and Curth’s response online and blasted the educator, who uses she/they pronouns, writing: “We should not be letting mentally ill professors around students.”

That post drew quick reactions online with people taking sides - some defending the professor and calling the paper ‘poor.’ While others defended Fulnecky.

In Curth’s feedback, Curth had said Fulnecky was entitled to her own beliefs, but that the psychology article was based on years of psychological research and evidence, not just society “pushing lies.”

In its Monday statement, the university said that Fulnecky’s two claims, one appealing the grade and the other formally complaining of “illegal religious discrimination,” had been resolved.

“As already announced, the grade appeal was decided in favor of the student, removing the assignment completely from the student's total point value of the class, resulting in no academic harm to the student,” UO said. “The claim for discrimination has been investigated and concluded. The University does not release findings from such investigations.”

The university added the provost, the University's highest ranking academic officer and the academic dean, reviewed the full facts of the matter, before their decision.

“The University of Oklahoma believes strongly in both its faculty's rights to teach with academic freedom and integrity and its students' right to receive an education that is free from a lecturer's impermissible evaluative standards,” the statement read.

open image in gallery In its statement Monday, the university said that Fulnecky’s two claims, one appealing the grade and the other formally complaining of ‘illegal religious discrimination,’ had been resolved. ( Getty Images )

“We are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think. The University will continue to review best practices to ensure that its instructors have the comprehensive training necessary to objectively assess their students' work without limiting their ability to teach, inspire, and elevate our next generation.”

In her original essay, Fulnecky repeatedly cited the Bible and emphasized her right to free speech, stating she believes “eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God's original plan for humans.”

“Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth,” she wrote.

However, many online agreed with Curth’s assessment of the essay, criticizing her writing ability, lack of sources and digression from the instructions. “Her paper was absolutely embarrassing. She failed to follow directions, didn’t meet the word count and didn’t cite a single source,” one user wrote on X.

Another instructor for the course, Megan Waldron, said she concurred with Curth’s F grade, saying Fulnecky’s essay “should not be considered as a completion of the assignment.”

The Independent has contacted the University of Oklahoma for further comment on Curth’s dismissal as an instructor.

Romano16 on December 23rd, 2025 at 21:14 UTC »

Oklahoma had no choice, they don’t want to lose their 50th place in education rankings. To them that’s a good spot cause 50 is bigger than 49.

Drwildy on December 23rd, 2025 at 21:10 UTC »

Just so we are clear the student admitted in an interview she wrote that essay in 30 minutes. Do we really think she followed the guidelines here

ChiGuy6124 on December 23rd, 2025 at 20:48 UTC »

"The University of Oklahoma has fired an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”

"The university said in a statement posted Monday on X that its investigation found the graduate teaching assistant had been “arbitrary” in giving 20-year-old junior Samantha Fulnecky zero points on the assignment. The university declined to comment beyond its statement, which said the instructor had been removed from teaching."

"Conservative groups, commentators and others quickly made Fulnecky's failing grade an online cause, highlighting her argument that she'd been punished for expressing conservative Christian views. Her case became a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over academic freedom on college campuses as President Donald Trump pushes to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and restrict how campuses discuss race, gender and sexuality."

"A law approved this year by Oklahoma's Republican-dominated Legislature and signed by Stitt prohibits state universities from using public funds to finance DEI programs or positions or mandating DEI training. However, the law says it does not apply to scholarly research or “the academic freedom of any individual faculty member."

"Fulnecky wrote that she was frustrated by the premise of the assignment because she does not believe that there are more than two genders based on her understanding of the Bible, according to a copy of her essay provided to The Oklahoman."

“Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth,” she wrote, adding that it would lead society “farther from God’s original plan for humans.”

"In feedback obtained by the newspaper, Curth said the paper did “not answer the questions for the assignment," contradicted itself, relied on “personal ideology” over evidence and “is at times offensive.”

“Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs,” Curth wrote.