What to Know
Conservatives are not happy that a University of Oklahoma student failed an assignment that required her to write an essay on “gender typicality, peer relations, and mental health,” per The New York Times. When sharing her views on gender stereotypes, the student, junior Samantha Fulnecky, cited the Bible and used her own personal religious beliefs to support her arguments. She received 0 points out of 25 on the assignment, prompting her to file a complaint. Then, the University of Oklahoma chapter of Turning Point USA got involved and shared various details about the controversy on social media.
What was the assignment?
Students in the “Lifespan Development” class at the University of Oklahoma were asked to respond to an academic article about gender stereotypes, The New York Times reported. The university’s Turning Point USA chapter shared the rubric on social media. It made it very clear that students would be graded based on whether the essay had clear links to the assigned article and whether the paper discussed specific aspects of the article rather than summarizing it.
What did Samantha write?
The Oklahoman shared Samantha’s essay in full. In it, she wrote, “The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarily see this as a problem.” To support this belief, she explained some of her religious beliefs. “Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered ‘stereotypes’,” she continued in the essay. “Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men.”
She also wrote, “I do not think men and women are pressured to be more masculine or feminine. I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence. 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.”
The instructor said her failing grade was not about her beliefs.
On X, the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA shared the instructor’s response to the student’s paper and called the instructor “mentally ill.” The instructor wrote, “Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting [points] for 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.”
Elsewhere in this response, the instructor urged the student to “apply some more perspective and empathy.” They also noted that it’s fine to disagree with the readings. “If you personally disagree with the findings, then by all means share your criticisms, but make sure to do so in a way that is appropriate and using methodology of empirical psychology, as aligned with the learning goals in this class.”
Trans Professors response to Samantha’s essay pic.twitter.com/wQRlC6fCEy
— TPUSA_OU (@TurningPointOU) November 27, 2025
Many people took this to mean that Samantha failed because she ignored the actual assignment. “It seems like the teacher is not failing her because of her views, but because Samantha is bad at essays lol,” one person wrote in response to the post. Another person added that the Turning Point chapter seemingly shared the feedback to make the professor look like a “lefty lunatic,” but the instructor actually used “the most polite and professional reasoning possible.”
Others were actually surprised that the Turning Point chapter would share the response in attempt to make the professor look bad. “This…seems like a perfectly valid and constructive response and a legitimate cause for a bad grade,” someone else concluded.
Meanwhile, the Turning Point chapter wrote, “We at Turning Point OU stand with Samantha. We should not be letting mentally ill professors around students. Clearly this professor lacks the intellectual maturity to set her own bias aside and take grading seriously. Professors like this are the very reason conservatives can’t voice their beliefs in the classroom.”
The university has placed the instructor on leave.
In response to the controversy, the school shared a statement via social media. According to the statement, “the student reported filing a claim of illegal discrimination based on religious beliefs to the appropriate university office.” As a result of that claim, the issue is currently under investigation, and the instructor, who is a graduate student, has been placed on administrative leave.
Statement from the University of Oklahoma: pic.twitter.com/5YWBfyW9u0
— University of Oklahoma (@UofOklahoma) November 30, 2025
The university’s statement was extremely divisive, as conservatives celebrated it as a “huge win for Christianity and religious freedom” and others found it embarrassing.
“So, when a professor gives someone a zero for writing a bad essay that did not even try to adhere to the rubric, the university decides to place the professor on administrative leave for the rest of the semester???” one critic wrote in response. Another person argued, “You get response paper essay assignments in college as an opportunity to PROVE THAT YOU READ THE ARTICLE(S) AND THAT YOU UNDERSTOOD WHAT YOU READ. Easiest writing assignments ever tbh. This student skipped the assignment and submitted a Facebook personal opinion instead.”
