In what may qualify as a quintessential example of religious bias and discrimination, University of Oklahoma junior Samantha Fulnecky was given a zero on an assignment – all because she cited the Bible and put forward a Christian worldview in her essay.
As part of her “Lifespan Development” class, Fulnecky was asked to offer her opinion and thoughts on an academic article titled, “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence.”
In shirt-sleeve English, the Sooner student was asked to offer her opinion “of some aspect of the article.” Fulnecky chose to respond to the claim that “gender-atypical” children are more prone to bullying and mental health problems due to the teasing.
Fulnecky disagreed with the author’s assertion that gender roles were somehow dangerous or detrimental stereotypes.
“Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts,” she wrote. “The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.”
Samantha went on to suggest neither men nor women have these instincts because of social norms – but because of the way God has wired the two sexes.
“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,” she wrote. “I do not want kids to be teased or bullied in school. However, pushing the lie that everyone has their own truth and everyone can do whatever they want and be whoever they want is not biblical whatsoever.”
This perspective was too much for teaching assistant Mel Curth, who gave the student 0 out of 25 points on the assignment. He attempted to justify the grade by claiming Fulnecky failed to provide empirical evidence to back up her claim – despite the fact that no such expectation was ever communicated to students.
“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,” Curth claimed. He also said Fulnecky’s use of the word “demonic” was highly offensive.
This incident brought to mind a similar exchange I had during my senior year at Cal State in San Bernardino. I was taking an upper-level philosophy class. The lecture turned to the historical accuracy of Plato and Aristotle’s teaching. I raised my hand and asked if the New Testament would be considered a valid source?
The professor was appalled that I would even ask such a question. “The Bible is a fairy tale!” he thundered. “A fairy tale! No student who believes such nonsense will ever pass my class.” Thankfully, there was still time to drop the class.
It’s ironic that so many academic environments preach tolerance and freedom – and yet demand such conformity. Samantha Fulnecky refused to bow or bend to the pressure – and paid the price. But thankfully, that’s not the end of the story.
Gary Barksdale is a professor at Oklahoma University and a Turning Point USA advisor. After Samantha reached out to TPUSA, he stepped in to review the case. While he said she doesn’t deserve an “A” for the paper, she certainly shouldn’t have received a zero.