Samantha Fulnecky Drama Explained: OU Faces Fury Over Gen...

By Marni Rose McFall

News Reporter

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A psychology essay, written by a student called Samantha Fulnecky at The University of Oklahoma, has prompted an online culture war.

Fulnecky received a mark of 0 on her paper, which repeatedly referenced the Bible. In response, she filed a report which alleged discrimination over religious beliefs.

The university has since placed the instructor who issued the grade on leave, and the incident has sparked a furious response from conservatives and criticism from the left.

Newsweek has contacted Oklahoma University via email and Fulnecky via social media message for comment outside of regular working hours.

Why It Matters

There have long been concerns over free speech on college campuses, and conservatives have often alleged unfair treatment of their beliefs.

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In September, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) released its sixth annual College Free Speech Rankings, which found that only 36 percent of students said that it was either "very" or "extremely" clear that free speech is protected on college campuses.

What To Know

The Oklahoma chapter of Turning Point USA, the right-wing student group founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, has shared multiple posts about Fulnecky's essay, including screenshots of the essay itself and the subsequent fallout.

The original assignment was to write an article on gender stereotypes in middle school students and how this affects their mental health. Fulnecky based her argument in her essay around Christianity and the Bible and wrote: "Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men."

"God does not view women as less significant than men," Fulnecky wrote in the essay. She said that "He created us with such intentionally and care and He made women in his image of being a helper, and in the image of His beauty," before adding "I am happy to be following a stereotype that aligns with the gifts and abilities God gave me as a woman."

Fulnecky also wrote that “Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic."

Much of Fulnecky’s argument hinged on the fact that she personally does not take issue with gender stereotypes because it is how "God made us."

Fulnecky was failed by the course's instructor, who is a graduate student, on the grounds that she neglected to address the prompt and relied on "personal ideology" over "empirical evidence," according to screenshots shared by the university’s Turning Point USA chapter. The instructor also said that parts of Fulnecky's essay were offensive.

The instructor has been named online by Turning Point and multiple media outlets as Mel Curth. It has also been reported that Curth identifies as transgender and uses she/they pronouns. Newsweek has not independently verified these reports, and Curth has not publicly responded as of reporting.

Fulnecky told the local news outlet The Oklahoman that to be "what I think is clearly discriminated against for my beliefs and using freedom of speech, and especially for my religious beliefs, I think that's just absurd."

Following the incident and Fulnecky's complaint, the University of Oklahoma has issued a statement in which it confirmed that the instructor has been placed on "administrative leave."

The university’s statement read in part that it takes "seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms."

The response online has been split. Some have argued that this is a First Amendment issue and that Fulnecky was treated unfairly. Others have argued that the essay was written poorly, and Fulnekcy deserved the poor grade.

What People Are Saying

The University of Oklahoma, in a statement: "The student reported filing a claim of illegal discrimination based on religious beliefs to the appropriate university office. OU has a clear process for reviewing such claims and it has been activated. The graduate student instructor has been placed on administrative leave pending the finalization of this process."

Turning Point USA, in a post on X viewed over 38 million times, which read in part: "Fulnecky says she followed the assignment guidelines and should not be penalized for her religious viewpoints. OU officials point to the formal grade-appeal process as the student awaits a decision. We at Turning Point OU stand with Samantha ... Clearly this professor lacks the intellectual maturity to set her own bias aside and take grading seriously. Professors like this are the very reason conservatives can't voice their beliefs in the classroom."

Dr. Kareem Carr, a writer and statistician, in a post on X viewed 2 million times: "putting an instructor on leave for giving a student a bad grade on a homework assignment is insane."

Matt Bernstein, a content creator and podcaster in a reel shared to Instagram viewed 1.5 million times: "Samantha look at me, facts don’t care about your feelings, and the fact is, you can’t write."

Eric Mochnacz, a writer, in a comment on @mattxiv’s Instagram post, liked over 60,000 times: “This is also just a horribly written college level paper."

Brilyn Hollyhand, an author, in a post on X viewed over 200,000 times: "A OU student just got a zero for pushing back against transgenderism and quoting the Bible. She didn’t scream or throw things in class like a liberal would. She wrote an essay as instructed. Woke professors are silencing students. Our Founders are rolling in their graves."