University of Oklahoma teaching assistant fired after flunking Christian student files appeal with school

A University of Oklahoma postgraduate teaching adjunct who was fired aft flunking a Christian pupil who cited the Bible successful an essay, causing a nationalist uproar, is appealing the school's decision. 

Brittany Stewart, a self-employed and self-described civilian rights lawyer, said she is representing William "Mel" Curth, who assessed pupil Samantha Fulnecky a zero retired of 25 connected an duty astir sex norms.

"Today, my client, Mel Curth, submitted her entreaty of the University's Institutional Equity Office uncovering that she engaged successful arbitrary and capricious grading of a student's duty successful usurpation of that student's spiritual liberty," Stewart said connected Bluesky earlier this week.

OU pupil Samantha Fulnecky, with her Bible, successful the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman/Imagn Images)

"Ms. Curth afloat denies that she engaged successful immoderate discriminatory behavior," the connection continues. "It is her presumption that the probe was flawed, failed to see each imaginable motives and issues, and that caller grounds has travel to airy that undermines the investigation's conclusion."

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Stewart did not specify what the caller grounds is.

For the assignment, Curth, who uses she/they pronouns, asked students to work a abbreviated insubstantial called, "Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence," which discusses results of a survey astir sex norms among mediate schoolers and the societal ramifications children whitethorn look if they don't conform to sex norms.

The students were instructed to supply a "thoughtful treatment of immoderate facet of the article."

Fulnecky, a inferior astatine the school, responded by saying she thought sex norms should not beryllium viewed arsenic stereotypes. She cited Genesis, the archetypal publication of the Bible, successful which God created men and women equally, but with abstracted purposes.

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Students locomotion connected field betwixt classes astatine the University of Oklahoma connected March 11, 2015, successful Norman, Oklahoma. (Brett Deering/Getty Images)

"Gender roles and tendencies should not beryllium considered 'stereotypes,'" Fulnecky wrote successful her essay. "Women people privation to bash womanly things due to the fact that God created america with those womanly desires successful our hearts. The aforesaid goes for men. God created men successful the representation of His courageousness and strength, and He created women successful the representation of His beauty. He intentionally created women otherwise than men and we should unrecorded our lives with that successful mind."

She aboriginal described the normalization of non-binary sex arsenic "demonic."

Curth took objection to Fulnecky's response.

"Please enactment that I americium not deducting points due to the fact that you person definite beliefs, but alternatively I americium deducting constituent [sic] for you posting a absorption insubstantial that does not reply the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavy uses idiosyncratic ideology implicit empirical grounds successful a technological class, and is astatine times offensive," Curth's mentation for the people said, aboriginal adding that the effort was "offensive" and claiming that subject backs the thought that "gender is neither binary nor fixed."

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There were 3 grading criteria, according to Fulnecky, who said nary of those criteria listed empirical grounds arsenic a requirement.

"Does the insubstantial amusement a wide tie-in to the assigned article?" was the first, worthy up to 10 retired of the assignment's 25 full points.

"Does the insubstantial contiguous a thoughtful absorption oregon effect to the article, alternatively than a summary?" was the second, besides worthy up to 10 points.

"Is the insubstantial intelligibly written?" was the past criterion, worthy up to 5 points.

OU pupil Samantha Fulnecky, with her Bible, successful the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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Fulnecky filed an authoritative spiritual favoritism ailment with the schoolhouse aft receiving the zero grade, and Curth was enactment connected administrative permission pending an investigation.

On Dec. 22, the University of Oklahoma released a connection saying Curth had been fired.

"Based connected an introspection of the postgraduate teaching assistant’s anterior grading standards and patterns, arsenic good arsenic the postgraduate teaching assistant’s ain statements related to this matter, it was determined that the postgraduate teaching adjunct was arbitrary successful the grading of this circumstantial paper," the schoolhouse said. "The postgraduate teaching adjunct volition nary longer person instructional duties astatine the University."

Stewart said successful her connection that Fulnecky had an ulterior governmental motive for challenging the grade, and slammed the assemblage for making nationalist statements portion she said Curth is bound by "confidentiality rules."

"Rather than engaging successful discrimination, Mel Curth has been the people of a governmental question that seeks to soundlessness and/or oust LGBTQ radical from academia," Stewart's connection concludes. "Ms. Curth volition proceed to combat backmost against these harmful allegations."

A University of Oklahoma field motion is pictured successful Norman, Oklahoma, connected Dec. 1, 2024. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital reached retired to Stewart and the University of Oklahoma for comment.