The University of Oklahoma faced a major controversy regarding gender and religion in mid-November. The scandal was caused when psychology student Samantha Fulnecky received a zero for her essay on gender in which she expressed her religious views on the topic.

The class Fulnecky was enrolled in was called “Lifetime Development” and students were asked to write an essay in response to a study on the effects gender has on the mental health of middle schoolers. The article was titled, “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence.”

This situation was amplified by the fact that Fulnecky’s professor, Mel Curth, is a member of the transgender community, and many argue that her grading was biased and religiously discriminatory. This incident led to Curth being placed on administrative leave until further notice.

The assignment was given a 650 word minimum with the punishment of a 10 point deduction for anyone below the word count. Fulnecky’s article contained only 630 words so it automatically was deducted from the essay.

The essay was brought to another instructor to review, and they also agreed that the essay did not meet the standards of the assignment. Fulnecky was not satisfied with this conclusion, so she filed a complaint against the two professors.

Sophomore Caelyn Guistwite said, “I think that the topic itself wasn’t the issue. The main problem was the grammatical issues throughout the paper and the lack of citations from both the assigned text and the sources she was referencing. I think it definitely could have been handled in a different way without things flying off the handle like they did.”

Many people agree with Guistwite’s sentiments that the essay was of poor quality and had nothing to do with the topic she was writing about. Many people had such strong sentiments that protests and rallies began to take place on campus for Curth’s reinstatement at the university. Not everyone has such strong opinions on the case though.

Sophomore Lauren Ogada said, “I think that if she was singled out because of her religion that it would definitely be wrong. People should have the right to express their religious identity without being punished for it. I definitely do think the essay had flaws though and deserved to have at least some points docked. The essay barely hit any points from the rubric so I can understand why she got such a low score.”

Ogada expressed another popular viewpoint that people should have a chance to express their religion without their academics being affected. This incident is conflicting for many people because gender and religion is often a very sensitive topic among communities.

The results of the investigation will come out sometime in the near future, meaning people have not seen the end of this incident yet.