A student’s paper citing the Bible and conservative views for a psychology assignment has raised claims of discrimination.
WASHINGTON — A psychology paper by a student at the University of Oklahoma has ignited controversy over the role of religion in schools after conservative groups began a public pushback campaign against the student’s grade.
According to the University of Oklahoma chapter of Turning Point USA, the 650-word essay written by Samantha Fulnecky was for an assignment exploring gender roles in society.
The conservative student organization contends that Fulnecky cited the Bible throughout her essay to support claims that eliminating gender would put people “farther from God’s original plan for humans.”
The essay reportedly received a zero out of 25 from the graduate teaching assistant grading the course’s papers. According to Fox News, the teaching assistant wrote that she found Fulnecky’s use of the word “demonic” to describe the idea of sex and gender on a spectrum “highly offensive.”
When she received her grade, Fulnecky reached out to Turning Point for support.
The university later confirmed Fulnecky reported filing a claim of illegal discrimination based on religious beliefs.
Why has this paper become such a hot-topic issue?
After the organization raised the issue with the school and on social media, it began circulating in conservative media circles, with Fulnecky eventually appearing on Fox News to discuss her paper.
“I did this assignment the same as I would any other in that class, gave my opinion on gender binary and gender stereotypes and that, naturally, my views are from the Bible and my Christian kind of worldview,” she told Fox News. “And so that’s what I wrote about and I didn’t think anything of it.”
Officials in conservative states took aim at higher education before President Donald Trump began his second term, driven in part by the belief that colleges are out of touch — too liberal and loading up students with too much debt. The first efforts focused on critical race theory, an academic framework centered on the idea that racism is embedded in the nation’s institutions, and then on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
But since Trump took office for the second time in January, Republicans in several states have begun pushing for more conservative representation at colleges and universities.
Officials in states including Indiana, Florida, Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Idaho increasingly have focused on university governance — rules for who picks university presidents and boards and how much control they exert over curriculum and faculty tenure.
What does the school say?
The University of Oklahoma on Sunday put out a statement saying officials were reviewing the issue, calling it a concern about First Amendment rights.
The school also placed the graduate TA, a student instructor, on administrative leave while it conducted its investigation.
The full statement from the university can be read below:
“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.
First, the college acted immediately to address the academic issue raised by the student. College leaders contacted her on the day her letter was received and have maintained regular communication throughout the process. As previously stated, a formal grade appeals process was conducted. The process resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments.
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.”
Why is Turning Point USA involved?
Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk founded to mobilize young, Christian conservatives, has seen a massive surge in interest and support since the activist’s assassination earlier this year.
Turning Point currently has around 3,500 chapters on college campuses and high schools across the U.S., and received over 60,000 inquiries to start new campus chapters after Kirk was killed.
As conservatives continue to mourn Kirk’s death, the group appears poised to remain a major force as it plots its future without Kirk at the helm. The group’s board announced shortly after his death that Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, had been unanimously elected as its next leader and will serve as CEO and board chair.
Turning Point became a multimillion-dollar operation under Charlie Kirk’s leadership and was credited with helping to return Trump to office.
Since Kirk’s killing, his podcast and social media have attracted millions of new followers. There has been an outpouring of interest in expanding Turning Point’s footprint on college and high school campuses, the group’s spokesperson says, and future large-scale events are continuing as planned.
“It will grow,” said Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet, who is also a producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast. “What we’re seeing is that Charlie’s legacy will be much greater, broader, and bigger than we even realized in life.”
