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University of Oklahoma teaching assistant fired for discrimination appeals
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A College of Oklahoma graduate educating assistant who was fired after flunking a Christian pupil who quoted the Bible in an essay, sparking a nationwide uproar, is interesting the college’s choice.
Brittany Stewart, a self-employed and self-described civil rights lawyer, stated she represents William “Mel” Curth, who gave pupil Samantha Fulnecky a zero out of 25 on an project on gender norms.
“As we speak, my consumer, Mel Curth, filed her enchantment with the college’s Institutional Fairness Workplace, discovering that she engaged in arbitrary and capricious evaluation of a pupil’s project in violation of that pupil’s spiritual freedom,” stated Stewart. said on Bluesky earlier this week.
OU pupil Samantha Fulnecky, together with her Bible, on the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman/Imagn Photographs)
“Ms Curth utterly denies that she has engaged in discriminatory conduct,” the assertion continues. “It’s her place that the investigation was flawed, that every one doable motives and points weren’t taken under consideration, and that new proof has come to mild that undermines the conclusion of the investigation.”
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Stewart didn’t specify what the brand new proof is.
For the project, Curth, who makes use of they/them pronouns, requested college students to learn a brief article titled “Relationships amongst Gender Typical Traits, Peer Relationships, and Psychological Well being in Early Adolescence,” which discusses the outcomes of a examine on gender norms amongst center college college students and the social penalties kids might face if they don’t conform to gender norms.
The scholars had been instructed to offer a “considerate dialogue on some facet of the article.”
Fulnecky, a junior on the college, responded by saying she believed gender norms shouldn’t be seen as stereotypes. She quoted Genesis, the primary e book of the Biblewherein God created women and men equally, however for various functions.
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College students stroll between lessons on campus in Norman, Oklahoma, on March 11, 2015. (Brett Deering/Getty Photographs)
“Gender roles and tendencies shouldn’t be thought of ‘stereotypes,’” Fulnecky wrote in her essay. “Ladies naturally need to do female issues as a result of God created us with these female wishes in our hearts. The identical goes for males. God created males within the picture of His braveness and energy, and He created ladies within the picture of His magnificence. He deliberately created ladies in a different way from males and we should stay our lives with that in thoughts.”
She later described the normalization of non-binary gender as “demonic.”
Curth objected to Fulnecky’s response.
“Please be aware that I’m not deducting factors as a result of you have got sure beliefs, however as an alternative I’m deducting factors [sic] for posting a response paper that doesn’t reply the questions for this project, contradicts itself, closely makes use of private ideology over empirical proof in a science class, and is usually offensive,” Curth’s rationalization for the grade stated, later including that the essay was “offensive” and claiming that science helps the concept that “gender is neither binary nor mounted.”
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There have been three evaluation standards, in response to Fulnecky, who stated none of those standards listed empirical proof as a requirement.
‘Does the newspaper have a transparent relationship with the assigned article?’ was the primary, price a most of 10 of the whole 25 factors of the project.
“Does the article comprise a considerate response or response to the article, moderately than a abstract?” was second, additionally good for a most of 10 factors.
“Is the paper written clearly?” was the ultimate criterion, price a most of 5 factors.
OU pupil Samantha Fulnecky, together with her Bible, on the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman/USA As we speak Community through Imagn Photographs)
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Fulnecky filed an official spiritual discrimination criticism with the college after receiving the zero grade, and Curth was positioned on administrative depart pending an investigation.
On December 22, the College of Oklahoma launched an announcement saying Curth had been fired.
“Primarily based on an examination of the graduate educating assistant’s prior overview requirements and patterns, in addition to the graduate educating assistant’s personal statements concerning this matter, it was decided that the graduate educating assistant was arbitrary in reviewing this specific article,” the college stated. “The graduate educating assistant will now not have educating duties on the college.”
Stewart stated in her assertion that Fulnecky had an ulterior political motive for difficult the grade, and blasted the college for making public statements, whereas saying Curth is certain by “confidentiality guidelines.”
“Reasonably than partaking in discrimination, Mel Curth has been the goal of a political motion that seeks to silence and/or drive LGBTQ individuals out of academia,” Stewart concluded in his assertion. “Ms Curth will proceed to combat these damaging allegations.”
A College of Oklahoma campus signal is pictured in Norman, Oklahoma, on December 1, 2024. (Kirby Lee/Getty Photographs)
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Fox Information Digital reached out to Stewart and the College of Oklahoma for remark.