University of Oklahoma student files discrimination report after flunking gender essay for psych class with trans instructor

After a student’s complaint about alleged discrimination, the University of Oklahoma put a graduate assistant on leave while it dug into the claim. The grievance was lodged by a dissatisfied student who had repeatedly cited the Bible in an essay on a piece about gender stereotypes for a class led by a transgender professor.

The essay, which was meant to examine “how people are perceived based on societal expectations of gender,” saw Oklahoma student Samantha Fulnecky launch into a scriptural critique of the idea that more than two genders exist.

According to a “bombshell thread” posted by the university’s Turning Point USA chapter, the course’s professor, graduate student Mel Curth—who goes by “she/they” pronouns—gave Fulnecky a zero, saying her paper missed the prompt and leaned too heavily on personal belief instead of “empirical evidence.”

In her essay, Fulnecky repeatedly insisted that she holds no problem with gender stereotypes because “that is how God made us.” She failed to reference the article she was supposed to respond to, mentioning only a vague idea that teasing enforces gender norms.

The bulk of the roughly 650‑word paper focused on how kids can be harmed by the notion of multiple genders, though it isn’t clear whether that was what the original article asked them to examine.

“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,” Fulnecky wrote.

“I live my life based on this truth and firmly believe that there would be less gender issues and insecurities in children if they were raised knowing that they do not belong to themselves, but they belong to the Lord,” she added.

Curth stayed firm, noting that Fulnecky’s arguments were “at times offensive.”

“To call an entire group of people ‘demonic’ is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population,” Curth wrote, before pointing out a litany of contradictions in the essay.

“You can say that strict gender norms don’t create gender stereotypes, but that isn’t true by definition of what a stereotype is. Please note that acknowledging gender stereotypes does not immediately denote a negative connotation, a nuance this article discusses,” she added.

Curth encouraged Fulnecky to try “apply some more perspective and empathy” in future assignments and said she could always share feedback “in a way that is appropriate and using methodology of empirical psychology,” according to the post.

The instructor for another section of the same course, second‑year graduate student Megan Waldron, agreed with Curth’s grading decision and said it was “concerning” that Fulnecky didn’t see bullying or teasing as harmful.

“Your paper directly and harshly criticizes your peers and their opinions, which are just as valuable as yours. Disagreeing with others is fine, but there is a respectful way to go about it,” Waldron wrote.

In a statement posted on X, the university said a “graduate student instructor” was put on administrative leave while it investigated a student’s claim of illegal discrimination “based on religious beliefs.”

Neither Waldron nor Curth was named specifically in the statement, and it isn’t clear whether both were dismissed after the complaint.