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The University of Oklahoma has fired an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over\u00a0a failing grade\u00a0on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a \u201cbelief in multiple genders\u201d was \u201cdemonic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The university said in\u00a0a statement\u00a0posted Monday on X that its investigation found the graduate teaching assistant had been \u201carbitrary\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
Through her attorney, the instructor, Mel Curth, denied Tuesday that she had \u201cengaged in any arbitrary behavior regarding the student\u2019s work.\u201d The attorney, Brittany Stewart, said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that Curth is \u201cconsidering all of her legal remedies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative groups, commentators and others quickly made Fulnecky\u2019s failing grade an online cause, highlighting her argument that she\u2019d 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\u00a0end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and restrict how campuses discuss\u00a0race, gender and sexuality.<\/p>\n
Fulnecky appealed her grade on the assignment, which was worth 3% of the final grade in the class, and the university said the assignment would not count. It also placed Curth on leave, and Oklahoma\u2019s conservative Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, declared the situation \u201cdeeply concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe University of Oklahoma believes strongly in both its faculty\u2019s rights to teach with academic freedom and integrity and its students\u2019 right to receive an education that is free from a lecturer\u2019s impermissible evaluative standards,\u201d the university\u2019s statement said. \u201cWe are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think.\u201d<\/p>\n
A law approved this year\u00a0by Oklahoma\u2019s 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 \u201cthe academic freedom of any individual faculty member.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home telephone listings for Fulnecky in the Springfield, Missouri, area had been disconnected, and her mother \u2014 an attorney, podcaster and radio host \u2014 did not immediately respond Tuesday to a Facebook message seeking comment about the university\u2019s action.<\/p>\n
Fulnecky\u2019s failing grade came in an assignment for a psychology class on lifespan development. Curth directed students to write a 650-word response to an academic study that examined whether conformity with gender norms was associated with popularity or bullying among middle school students.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0a copy of her essay\u00a0provided\u00a0to The Oklahoman.<\/p>\n
\u201cSociety pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth,\u201d she wrote, adding that it would lead society \u201cfarther from God\u2019s original plan for humans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In feedback obtained by the newspaper, Curth said the paper did \u201cnot answer the questions for the assignment,\u201d contradicted itself, relied on \u201cpersonal ideology\u201d over evidence and \u201cis at times offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs,\u201d Curth wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#University #Oklahoma #fired #instructor #failed #student #cited #Bible<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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