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University student files discrimination report after transgender professor fails her Bible-referencing essay

December 1, 2025 | | Print Article

Cries of discrimination rang out after a “transgender professor” was alleged to have given a student a failing grade for a Bible-referencing essay.

Concerns over bias in academia are nothing new, but a recent example garnered serious attention in the deep red Sooner State after a student at the University of Oklahoma filed a report with the school. According to details of the case shared by the school’s Turning Point USA chapter, Samantha Fulnecky received a grade of 0 out of 25 “because he found her paper ‘offensive'” over “simple truths” like there being only two genders.

While sharing the student’s essay for the psychology course and the response from the instructor, graduate student Mel Curth, the TPUSA chapter detailed that a discrimination report had been filed over the failing grade that referenced the Bible in support of Fulnecky’s response to an article on “how people are perceived based on societal expectations of gender.”

“To call an entire group of people ‘demonic’ is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population,” wrote Curth as the essay stated, “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.”

Curth claimed the point deductions were not because of Fulnecky’s beliefs, “but instead I am deducting points for you posting a reaction paper that 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.”

At the same time, Curth pushed for the student to apply “more perspective and empathy” in her work. The TPUSA chapter also shared the directions for the assignment and indicated that they do not call for the use of empirical sources, “neither did the professor say that [Fulnecky] failed due [to] it being poorly written.”

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“The professor is trans and gave Samantha a 0 because he found her paper ‘offensive’ when simple truths like there being only two genders was expressed in her paper,” argued TPUSA, as the assignment called for a “thoughtful discussion of some aspect of the article” such as an “application of the study or results to your own experiences.”

Its grading scale awarded 10 points for reacting to the article without merely summarizing it, 5 points for it being clearly written, and 10 points for a “clear tie-in to the assigned article.”

“We at Turning Point OU stand with Samantha. We should not be letting mentally ill professors around students,” contended the chapter. “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. [Kudos] to Samantha for leading by example and standing up for what she believes in.”

In their own statement, the school indicated the process for formal grade appeal had been conducted, resulting in “steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments,” as it detailed without names that Curth had been placed on leave for the duration of an investigation.

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“The University of Oklahoma takes seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms. Upon receiving notice from the student on the grading of an assignment, the University immediately began a full review of the situation and has acted swiftly to address the matter,” stated OU. “Second, 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. To ensure fairness in the process, a full-time professor is serving as the course instructor for the remainder of the semester.”

“OU remains firmly committed to fairness, respect, and protecting every student’s right to express sincerely held religious beliefs,” insisted the statement.

Responses to the alleged discrimination from public officials included a statement from Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R), who wrote on X, “The 1st Amendment is foundational to our freedom & inseparable from a well rounded education. The situation at OU is 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.”

Likewise, Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R) called for a neutral review of Fulnecky’s grade and assurances her religious and moral beliefs would not equate to penalization, among other actions, while sharing an image of the “‘offended’ trans professor.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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