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FIRST ON FOX: United States senators are speaking out after a student at the University of Oklahoma said she was given a zero on an assignment for her “Christian kind of worldview” questioning gender norms.
Word of the failed assignment has now reached the halls of Congress, raising eyebrows from top senators, including former presidential candidate and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-SC, and Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who represents the university in Congress.
“That’s insane,” Mullin told Fox News Digital. “Especially in Oklahoma. There should be zero tolerance for woke activists disguised as ‘educators’ who punish students for no reason and put their toxic political agendas ahead of our kids’ education.”
A Christian student at the University of Oklahoma received a zero on a gender-themed psychology essay after submitting a faith-based critique instead of an evidence-based response to the assigned scholarly article. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu via Getty Images / DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the university, got a zero out of 25 on her essay after turning in a faith-based critique of gender identity instead of responding to the assigned scholarly article, “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence.”
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The scholastic piece analyzes a case study of middle schoolers who may have seen “gender‐based teasing” among other experiences associated with not conforming to gender norms.
“College professors should be focused on core subjects — not woke political indoctrination. The First Amendment, including religious freedom, should be at the core of higher education,” Mullin added. “A student was given a ZERO for citing the Bible and stating reality: that there are only two genders.”
Senator Markwayne Mullin told Fox News Digital “there should be zero tolerance for woke activists disguised as ‘educators’ who punish students for no reason and put their toxic political agendas ahead of our kids’ education.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Part of the grading criteria included five points for the paper simply being “clearly written.”
CONSERVATIVE PROFESSOR SLAMS 0 GRADE FOR OKLAHOMA STUDENT’S BIBLICAL ESSAY AS PUNITIVE: ‘VERY INAPPROPRIATE’
“Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered ‘stereotypes,'” Fulnecky’s essay read. “Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men, and we should live our lives with that in mind.”
The teacher’s assistant who graded the assignment, Mel Curth, uses she/they pronouns.
Scott, who is an outspoken Christian and widely known as a man of faith, called the TA’s decision to give Fulnecky a zero “pathetic.”
Sen. Tim Scott told Fox News Digital the TA’s decision to give the student a zero was “pathetic.” (Reuters)
OKLAHOMA STUDENT GIVEN ZERO ON BIBLE-CITING ESSAY SAYS UNIVERSITY ONLY SUSPENDED TA AFTER DISPUTE WENT VIRAL
“I think it’s pathetic that a young lady gets a zero on her work because the instructor has a different opinion,” he told Fox News Digital. “Students should be able to express themselves on a college campus and be judged on how well they performed, not based on whether one likes what the student has to say.”
“The question is, ‘Do we have freedom of expression on college campuses?’ If not, they should not be getting federal funding and frankly, it’s not a school at all — it’s an indoctrination camp,” Scott added.
Fox News Digital interviewed Fulnecky earlier this week, who said that the TA “left submission comments saying that my work was offensive, that I need more empathy in my writing, things like if I’m going to argue against the consensus of every medical field, in every medical association in the United States, then I need empirical evidence to back that.”
The University of Oklahoma placed the TA on leave following Fulnecky’s complaint. (Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
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Fulnecky filed a discrimination complaint claiming she was graded for her Christian beliefs, prompting the university to place the graduate instructor on leave while investigating.
The University of Oklahoma did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, but did post to social media that the public college takes “concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms” seriously.
Fox News Digital reached out to Curth but did not receive a response.
Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston