Drama erupted at the University of Oklahoma after a transgender teaching assistant got the boot—sparked by one student’s fiery, faith-centered essay that set social media ablaze. The controversy hit fever pitch when Samantha Fulnecky, 20, a self-described conservative junior, was slapped with an F for her unapologetic, scripture-heavy take on gender stereotypes—even though she skipped formal Bible citations.

The essay, submitted back in late November for a psychology class assignment, challenged academic norms with its outright denouncement of non-binary gender identities, declaring, ‘That’s how God made us.’ Fulnecky went a step further, blaming the acceptance of multiple genders for creating what she called ‘severe harm’ to America’s youth, and didn’t mince words: ‘Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic.’

The instructor in the hot seat was Mel Curth, a graduate student using ‘she/they’ pronouns. As screenshots of Fulnecky’s failed essay zipped across platforms like Turning Point USA’s X page, university administrators launched an immediate inquiry. Curth was sidelined for the rest of the term while officials dug into the religious discrimination complaint filed by Fulnecky. 

By December, OU had decided Fulnecky’s grade wouldn’t drag down her final course mark. The university’s decisive Monday statement emphasized: ‘Reviewing the graduate teaching assistant’s remarks, it was concluded the grading was arbitrary.’ In other words, goodbye grading duties—Curth was stripped of teaching responsibilities for good.

The essay prompt in question invited students to craft a 650-word analysis responding to a research paper on whether sticking to gender expectations affected middle schoolers’ popularity or exposure to bullying. Fulnecky turned in her radical, faith-powered argument—but instructor Curth fired back in her comments, citing a lack of empirical support and calling elements of the essay ‘offensive.’

Curth scolded, ‘Describing an entire population as ‘demonic’ is deeply objectionable, especially when referring to an already marginalized group.’ She also pointed to what she called logical contradictions in Fulnecky’s submission, pushing back on the student’s claims.

With the controversy making headlines, the University of Oklahoma doubled down on its zero-tolerance stance for arbitrary religious discrimination. The bottom line: Mel Curth won’t be teaching there anymore, and Fulnecky’s explosive essay won’t count against her GPA—bringing a dramatic close to a campus culture war that caught national attention.