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Nothing says "higher education" quite like a university tripping over itself to prove that tolerance is a one-way street, especially when it involves pronouns, protests, and a healthy dose of biblical truth-telling.
The University of Oklahoma is having a rough go of it lately, and it's the kind of mess that makes you wonder if the admins are secretly auditioning for a reality show called "Woke Campus Meltdowns."
It all kicked off when teaching assistant William "Mel" Curth, a dude, who, naturally, uses she/they pronouns, decided to grade a zero on junior Samantha Fulnecky's essay in a lifespan development class. The assignment was to read a scholarly paper on gender norms among middle schoolers and write a response.
Fulnecky, being a Christian and whose pronouns didn't insult the English language, responded by supporting those norms and quoting the Bible. She argued that God made men and women, and that gender norms aren't just "stereotypes." Her essay included gems like: "Society [is] pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth," the essay said. "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."
Curth wasn't having it. Zero out of 25. He--oops, I mean she, insisted the paper lacked empirical evidence (even though that wasn't in the rubric) and lectured: "Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point [sic] 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," Curth's offensive response said.
"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," Mr. Curth continued.
"I was asked to read an article and give my opinion on the article, and the article was about gender binary and mental health and gender stereotypes, specifically in children, because it's a lifespan development class," Fulnecky, who was shocked by the zero grade, told Fox News Digital. "So I was asked to give my opinion and my reaction to the paper."
"So 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 said. "And so that's what I wrote about and I didn't think anything of it."
Curth got yanked from the classroom and put on administrative leave. But the fun didn't stop there.
Fast-forward to a protest demanding Curth's reinstatement. An assistant teaching professor, identified as Kelli Alvarez, offered excused absences to students who wanted to join the pro-Curth protest.
Turning Point USA chapter president Kalib Magana asked for the same deal to counter-protest. Nope. Alvarez reportedly said no unless he could rustle up a "documented group [of counter-protesters]."
Turning Point obviously wasn't thrilled: "Kalib should not be marked absent for showing up as a counter-protester while those in favor are excused. That is discriminatory," the Turning Point post said. "The professor expected Kalib to organize an entire counter-protest with people confirming they would attend, instead of allowing him to show up on his own like everyone else. His freedom of speech and his ability to receive an excused absence were made dependent on others agreeing to participate in his counter-protest and share his beliefs. This is incredibly anti-free speech and discriminatory toward an opposing viewpoint."
The university swung into action faster than you can say "viewpoint discrimination." In a Friday evening social media statement: "On Wednesday, a lecturer allegedly demonstrated viewpoint discrimination by excusing students who intended to miss class to attend a protest on campus, but not extending the same benefit to students who intended to miss class to express a counter-viewpoint," the University of Oklahoma said in a statement posted on social media.
A director jumped in, emailing students that the lecturer's actions were "inappropriate and wrong," and that classrooms are for teaching how to think, not what to think.
"The Director further stated that any student, regardless of viewpoint, would be excused if absent from class today to attend the protest without penalty, and that the lecturer had been replaced, effective immediately, for the remainder of the semester," the school said, adding that it unequivocally supports the director's decision to remove the so called professor.
Alvarez got replaced and slapped on administrative leave pending investigation. The university wrapped it up with:
"Classroom instructors have a special obligation to ensure that the classroom is never used to grant preferential treatment based on personal political beliefs, nor to pressure students to adopt particular political or ideological views," the school's statement finished.
Look, folks, this is peak academia in 2025: Grade a Christian student's biblical take harshly? You're out. Excuse absences only for the "right" kind of protest? You're really out. The University of Oklahoma just delivered a master class in how quickly things flip when the bias gets too obvious even for the ivory tower.
Curth is still on leave. Alvarez didn't respond to comments. And somewhere, common sense is quietly cheering from the sidelines.
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"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," Mr. Curth continued.
"I was asked to read an article and give my opinion on the article, and the article was about gender binary and mental health and gender stereotypes, specifically in children, because it's a lifespan development class," Fulnecky, who was shocked by the zero grade, told Fox News Digital. "So I was asked to give my opinion and my reaction to the paper."
"So 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 said. "And so that's what I wrote about and I didn't think anything of it."
Curth got yanked from the classroom and put on administrative leave. But the fun didn't stop there.
Fast-forward to a protest demanding Curth's reinstatement. An assistant teaching professor, identified as Kelli Alvarez, offered excused absences to students who wanted to join the pro-Curth protest.
Turning Point USA chapter president Kalib Magana asked for the same deal to counter-protest. Nope. Alvarez reportedly said no unless he could rustle up a "documented group [of counter-protesters]."
Turning Point obviously wasn't thrilled: "Kalib should not be marked absent for showing up as a counter-protester while those in favor are excused. That is discriminatory," the Turning Point post said. "The professor expected Kalib to organize an entire counter-protest with people confirming they would attend, instead of allowing him to show up on his own like everyone else. His freedom of speech and his ability to receive an excused absence were made dependent on others agreeing to participate in his counter-protest and share his beliefs. This is incredibly anti-free speech and discriminatory toward an opposing viewpoint."
The university swung into action faster than you can say "viewpoint discrimination." In a Friday evening social media statement: "On Wednesday, a lecturer allegedly demonstrated viewpoint discrimination by excusing students who intended to miss class to attend a protest on campus, but not extending the same benefit to students who intended to miss class to express a counter-viewpoint," the University of Oklahoma said in a statement posted on social media.
A director jumped in, emailing students that the lecturer's actions were "inappropriate and wrong," and that classrooms are for teaching how to think, not what to think.
"The Director further stated that any student, regardless of viewpoint, would be excused if absent from class today to attend the protest without penalty, and that the lecturer had been replaced, effective immediately, for the remainder of the semester," the school said, adding that it unequivocally supports the director's decision to remove the so called professor.
Alvarez got replaced and slapped on administrative leave pending investigation. The university wrapped it up with:
"Classroom instructors have a special obligation to ensure that the classroom is never used to grant preferential treatment based on personal political beliefs, nor to pressure students to adopt particular political or ideological views," the school's statement finished.
Look, folks, this is peak academia in 2025: Grade a Christian student's biblical take harshly? You're out. Excuse absences only for the "right" kind of protest? You're really out. The University of Oklahoma just delivered a master class in how quickly things flip when the bias gets too obvious even for the ivory tower.
Curth is still on leave. Alvarez didn't respond to comments. And somewhere, common sense is quietly cheering from the sidelines.
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