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University of Oklahoma has removed a teaching assistant who student F grade on psychology paper This sparked outrage among conservatives and led to claims of religious discrimination.,
“Based on an investigation of the graduate teaching assistant’s prior grading standards and patterns, as well as the graduate teaching assistant’s own statements related to this matter, it was determined that the graduate teaching assistant acted arbitrarily in the grading of this specific paper,” the university said in a statement Monday.
“Graduate Teaching assistants will no longer have instructional duties At the university.”
This happened when Samantha Fulnecki, a junior at the university, reported to her psychology instructor Mel Kurth after receiving grades and claimed that she received a score of zero out of 25 “for exercising my beliefs and freedom of expression, and especially for my religious beliefs”.
The assignment was to write a 650-word essay responding to a Psychology article about the impact of gender norms on middle school students and their impact on mental health.
Fulnecki’s complaint was promoted by the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit founded by Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in September. The group posted Fulnecki’s essay and Karth’s response online and criticized the teacher, writing using he/they pronouns: “We should not be letting mentally ill professors around students.”
The post sparked immediate reactions online and people took sides – some defending the professor and calling the newspaper ‘bad’. While others defended Fulnecki.
In response to Karth, Karth said that Fulani was entitled to his beliefs, but that the Psychology Today article was based on years of psychological research and evidence, not just a “society that promotes lies.”
In its Monday statement, the university said Fulnecki’s two claims, one appealing against a grade and the other formally complaining of “illegal religious discrimination,” had been resolved.
“As previously announced, the grade appeal was decided in the student’s favor, allowing the assignment to be completely removed from the student’s total point value for the class, resulting in no academic loss to the student,” UO said. “The discrimination claim has been investigated and concluded. The University does not release the findings of such investigations.”
The University reviewed the full facts of the case before making its decision, including the Provost, the University’s highest-ranking academic officer, and the Academic Dean.
“The University of Oklahoma believes strongly in both the rights of its faculty to teach with academic freedom and integrity and the right of its students to receive an education free from the unacceptable evaluative standards of a lecturer,” the statement said.
“We are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think. The University will continue to review best practices to ensure its instructors have the comprehensive training needed to objectively evaluate their students’ work without limiting their ability to teach, inspire, and lead our next generation.”
In her original essay, Fulnecki repeatedly cited the Bible and emphasized the right to free speech, saying she believed “it would be harmful to eliminate gender in our society, because it pulls us away from God’s original plan for human beings.”
She wrote, “Society’s promotion of the lie that there are multiple genders and that everyone should be who they want to be is monstrous and seriously harms American youth.”
However, many people online agreed with Karth’s assessment of the essay, criticizing his writing ability, lack of sources, and digression from instructions. “Her paper was absolutely embarrassing. She failed to follow instructions, didn’t meet the word count and didn’t cite a single source,” one user wrote on X.
Megan Waldron, another instructor for the course, said she agreed with Kurth’s F grade, adding that Fulnecki’s essay “should not be considered as completion of the work.”
Independent The University of Oklahoma has been contacted for further comment on Karth’s dismissal as instructor.