Here’s everything to know about the situation.
Here’s everything to know about the situation.
Here’s everything to know about the situation.
A University of Oklahoma student is in the national spotlight for claiming religious discrimination after she failed a psychology essay.
| VIDEO ABOVE | OU student who claimed religious discrimination over essay grade speaks out
Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at OU, received a zero on an assignment, asking students to react to an article on gender roles. After receiving her grade, she filed a complaint with the university.
Fulnecky is a junior at OU. She is from Nixa, Missouri, according to a biography on OU Women’s Tennis page. She was listed on the Women’s Tennis roster for the 2024-25 season.
She spoke to KOCO 5 after filing the complaint against the professor.
“I gave my opinion, and, not just my opinion, but that’s like the Bible says that God created male and female, and anything that’s not from God, is glorifying to God, is glorifying to the enemy,” Fulnecky said.
Fulnecky said she reached out to the teaching assistant to reconsider the grade before filing a formal complaint with the university.
“It’s that I think I should have gotten 100. I’ve gotten 100 on every single essay in this class, and I write them all the same—exactly the same. The TA has never had a problem with how I write my papers in this class. So, it has nothing to do with the title, or grammar, or how I write, or anything like that,” Fulnecky said.
>> Video Below: OU student making national headlines over claims of religious discrimination
OU’s Chapter of Turning Point USA posted screenshots of Fulnecky’s essay. Read it below:
>> Video Below: OU student who cited Bible claims religious discrimination over essay grade
On the essay rubric, the grading was based on whether there was an understanding of the article, whether it was a clear reaction, and whether the main ideas were organized in a coherent discussion.
The assignment was worth 25 points.
See the rubric below:
The graduate instructor, who did not wish the comment on the story, said the essay did not follow the assignment guidelines and was “at times offensive.” The instructor said it lacked empirical evidence.
“Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain 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,” the instructor said in the grading comments, according to screenshots posted by OU’s Turning Point USA chapter.
“While you are entitled to your own personal beliefs, there is an appropriate time or place to implement them in your reflections. I encourage all students to question or challenge the course material with other empirical findings or testable hypotheses, but using your own personal beliefs to argue against the findings of not only this article, but the findings of countless articles across psychology, biology, sociology, etc. is not best practice”
>> Video Below: OU professor questions handling of Bible essay grading controversy
The instructor also responded to Fulnecky’s claims that society pushing the idea of multiple genders is “demonic.”
“Additionally, to call an entire group of people “demonic” is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but this isn’t a vague narrative of “society pushes lies,” but instead the result of countless years developing psychological and scientific evidence for these claims and directly interacting with the communities involved. You may personally disagree with this, but that doesn’t change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed,” the instructor, who is a transgender woman, commented.
Fulnecky told KOCO that she did not mean for the “demonic” comments to be offensive.
A second instructor for the course also commented on the essay, saying they agreed with the grade given to Fulnecky.
“This paper should not be considered as a completion of the assignment,” said the second instructor’s comments, according to screenshots from Turning Point USA.
When Fulnecky received zero out of 25 points on the assignment, filed a complaint against OU, claiming her religious freedom was violated.
The instructor was placed on administrative leave. The university confirmed to KOCO that the essay would not count toward Fulnecky’s final grade.
On Saturday, the university released a statement on the issue:
Michael Givel, a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma, described the situation as unusual, with many unknowns and questions surrounding the process.
“If I started advertising why I gave a grade to a student, I would be in hot water, under federal privacy laws at OU,” Givel said.
Givel noted that the university’s public statement over the weekend regarding the graduate teaching assistant’s administrative leave was out of the ordinary.
“The tweet on Sunday evening is highly unusual and frankly concerning that OU is tweeting about a personnel decision about the GTA,” he said.
>> Video Below: Ryan Walters dips back into Oklahoma politics to back OU student claiming religious discrimination
The situation has sparked debate from the public and leaders, including Gov. Kevin Stitt, who described the situation as “deeply concerning.”
Former State Superintendent Ryan Walters also shared his reaction in a video played at a luncheon for Original Constitutional Principles Affecting Culture Foundation.
“What a rockstar she is. What an absolute American hero, standing up for her Christian faith,” Walters said. “Everybody involved with this situation who did this to Samantha should be fired immediately. It’s not tough—it’s called the First Amendment, it’s called academics, it’s called a taxpayer university.”
Meanwhile, a protest march is scheduled to take place on OU’s campus Friday at noon, with a flyer on Signed Oklahoma’s Instagram calling to “protect our educators.” Attempts to reach Signed Oklahoma for comment have not yet been successful.
Attorney Ed Blau told KOCO that he did not see basis for a lawsuit against the university on behalf of Fulnecky.
“Long story short, there’s no constitutional guarantee to an A. There’s just not,”said Blau. “This student is claiming discrimination based on her religion due to the grade that she received on this paper. But let’s flip it around a little bit. Is the university violating their professor’s constitutional rights and First Amendment rights by suspending her because she gave a student a certain grade? But the road goes both directions.”
>> Video Below: OU student who cited Bible claims religious discrimination over essay grade
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