# Oklahoma student invokes Christian beliefs in college essay, gets failing grade **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443 "2025-12-06T01:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/1 "2025-12-06T01:37:42Z")
I don’t see that the Dope has weighed in on this, although it has been popping up on social media lately. In short, a university student in Oklahoma was assigned to respond to a reading assignment regarding bullying and gender identity. Her reply - which was clearly reflecting a dogmatic Christian viewpoint of traditional gender roles- received 0 points and a failing grade. The student brought this to the attention of Turning Point USA (the Charlie Kirk people), and it became an issue of “religious persecution”: > **[Oklahoma student flunked by TA after touting Christian beliefs in gender...](https://www.foxnews.com/us/oklahoma-student-flunked-by-ta-after-touting-christian-beliefs-gender-essay-directs-others-push-back.amp)** > > University of Oklahoma student receives zero on gender assignment after expressing Christian beliefs, sparking viral controversy over religious freedom. What makes this interesting is that the essay has been published in its entirety, along with the teacher’s response. I’d be interested in the Dope’s thoughts. (Note that I don’t have the original reading material , but can share the failing assignment and the teacher’s explanation of the grade) Here is the offending essay (formatting is not original to the essay; it’s a cut and paste by me): > [@](#): > > This article was very thought provoking and caused me to thoroughly evaluate the idea of gender and the role it plays in our society. > > The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarilv see this as a problem. God made male and female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a purpose. God is very intentional with what He makes, and I believe trying to change that would only do more harm. > > Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered “stereotypes”. 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. > > It is frustrating to me when I read articles like this and discussion posts from my classmates of so many people trying to conform to the same mundane opinion, so they do not step on people’s toes. I think > that is a cowardly and insincere way to live. > > It is important to use the freedom of speech we have been given in this country, and I > personally believe that eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God’s original plan for humans. > > It is perfectly normal for kids to follow gender “stereotypes” because that is how God made us. The reason so many girls want to feel womanly and care for others in a motherly way is not because they feel pressured to fit into social norms. It is because God created and chose them to reflect His beauty and His compassion in that way. > > In Genesis, God says that it is not good for man to be alone, so He created a helper for man (which is a woman). Many people assume the word “helper” in this context to be condescending and offensive to women. However, the original word in Hebrew is “ezer kenegdo” and that directly translates to “helper equal to”. > > Additionally, God describes Himself in the Bible using “ezer kenegdo”., or “helper”, and He describes His Holy Spirit as our Helper as well. This shows the importance God places on the role of the helper (women’s roles). > > God does not view women as less significant than men. He created us with such intentionally and care and He made women in his image of being a helper, and in the image of His beauty. If leaning into that role means I am “following gender stereotypes” then I am happy to be following a stereotype that aligns with the gifts and abilities God gave me as a woman. > > I do not think men and women are pressured to be more masculine or feminine. I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that > encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence. > > Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic > and severely harms American youth. I do not want kids to be teased or bullied in school. However, pushing the lie that everyone has their own truth and everyone can do whatever they want and be whoever > they want is not biblical whatsoever. > > The Bible says that our lives are not our own but that our lives and bodies belong to the Lord for His glory. I live my life based on this truth and firmly believe that there would be less gender issues and insecurities in children if they were raised knowing that they do not belong to themselves, but they belong to the Lord. The teacher gave her zero points. > [@](#): > > Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive. > > While you are entitled to your own personal beliefs, there is an appropriate time or place to implement them in your reflections. I encourage all students to question or challenge the course material with other empirical findings or testable hypotheses, but using your own personal beliefs to argue against the findings of not only this article, but the findings of countless articles across psychology, biology, sociology, etc. is not best practice. > > You argue that abiding by normative gender roles is beneficial (it is perfectly fine to believe this, but to then say that evervone should act the same, while also saying that people aren’t pressured into gendered expectations is contradictory, especially since your arguments reflect a religious pressure to act in gender- stereotypical ways. You can say that strict gender norms don’t create gender stereotypes, but that isn’t true by definition of what a stereotype is. Please note that acknowledging gender stereotypes does not immediately denote a negative connotation, a nuance this article discusses. > > Additionally, to call an entire group of people “demonic” is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but this isn’t a vague narrative of “society pushes lies,” but instead the result of countless years developing psychological and scientific evidence for these claims and directly interacting with the communities involved. You may personally disagree with this, but that doesn’t change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed. > > I implore you apply some more perspective and empathy in your work. If you personally disagree with the findings, then by all means share your criticisms, but make sure to do so in a way that is appropriate and using the methodology of empirical psychology, as aligned with the learning goals in this class. If you have any additional questions or concerns about this or would like some additional educational resources, I would be happy to discuss this further and provide you with them. > **[OU student says Bible reference in assignment led to zero; See full essay](https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/ou-essay-bible-instructor-on-leave)** > > OU placed a graduate instructor on administrative leave after a student alleged religious discrimination over a failed assignment. The university says a review is underway. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/2 "2025-12-06T01:44:17Z")
In normal times and under normal circumstances, I would expect the teacher to prevail easily. Now, though, when people wield their ignorance as a weapon, who the hell knows? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/3 "2025-12-06T01:45:18Z")
You’ll note that the article you linked leaves out the fact that the teacher who gave the assignment is themselves transgender. This whole thing reeks of an organized setup to target a trans person and get them fired. > **[Oklahoma University instructor suspended for failing student’s unscientific...](https://www.out.com/news/oklahoma-university-trans-instructor-suspended)** > > Although the student did not properly complete the assignment to academic standards, the university is investigating the teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/4 "2025-12-06T01:48:01Z")
It’s Oklahoma. We should be happy they can read at all. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/5 "2025-12-06T01:53:03Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I don’t see that the Dope has weighed in on this The situation has been mentioned in a couple of omnibus “terrible conservative behavior” threads in the Pit, but hasn’t had its own topic, AFAIK. > [@Smapti](#): > > This whole thing reeks of an organized setup to target a trans person and get them fired. It sure feels that way to me, too. Specifically, it seems like the paragraph in which the instructor criticized use of the word “demonic” has been called out by the student’s supporters. On the one hand, I wonder if, had the instructor stuck to “you didn’t follow the assignment at all,” in the first three paragraphs, without bringing that in, if reactions would have been different. On the other hand, I think that it probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/6 "2025-12-06T01:57:49Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I don’t see that the Dope has weighed in on this, although it has been popping up on social media lately. > [@Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6042): > > This stupid MFer is Samantha Fulnecky (the student, not the graduate teacher thrown under the bus for giving her the grade she deserved.) > [@Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/6054): > > Her story is all over the place now. Here she is explaining her use of “demonic” ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/7 "2025-12-06T02:29:42Z")
I agree with what other people online said no matter how badly written it was a 0 was just asking for trouble no matter who wrote it. Every college class I’ve ever been to you’d only get a 0 for either not turning it in or turning in the wrong assignment. Giving them a 10% would have sufficed. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/8 "2025-12-06T02:29:56Z")
As an undergraduate (history), during class discussions my professors would routinely ask students to justify their positions. It wasn’t good enough to just have an opinion, you had to explain why you had that opinion. Obviously in a paper we had to cite our sources and we had to make sure they were supporting our interpretation of the past. It does seem like a setup. Though I’ll admit it could just be a stupid student who happened to get lucky by touching on several hot button issues at once. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/9 "2025-12-06T02:52:49Z")
Grading rubrics are tedious, yet making them available beforehand as a self-check list is helpful in this kind of situation. Something like this makes it clear what the grading criteria are and demonstrate that the instructor is applying these standards even if they don’t like the content: - Evidence of spelling check: 5% - Follows 5-paragraph essay structure: 25% - Responds to prompt/question: 20% - Style, creativity, interest (or something less subjective): 10% - Includes assigned readings: 15% - Includes 3-5 well-integrated citations of empirical studies: 15% - Includes accurate citation list for all works cited: 10%, with 5% penalty for each work included that has not been cited in your paper. - Follows [MLA or whatever] language guidelines: criterion (failure to do so = No Pass with opportunity to revise by x date for a grade of no higher than 90%) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/10 "2025-12-06T02:56:58Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Giving them a 10% would have sufficed. The problem with that is, what was the 10% for? The instructor needs to have a rationale fot those points, too. I dislike these mechanical grade rubrics, but was always relieved to be able to show where the grade came from, and that the same standards had been applied across the class consistently. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/11 "2025-12-06T02:57:27Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Every college class I’ve ever been to you’d only get a 0 for either not turning it in or turning in the wrong assignment. Giving them a 10% would have sufficed. The paper was reviewed by a second faculty member who agreed that it merited a 0. I daresay the student deliberately wrote a bad paper that she knew would fail the assignment so she could climb on the alt-right gravy train. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/12 "2025-12-06T03:08:33Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Grading rubrics are tedious, yet making them available beforehand as a self-check list is helpful in this kind of situation. In this case the highest possible grade is 25 points. > **[University of Oklahoma instructor on leave after failing grade on gender essay](https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5634703-oklahoma-instructor-leave-gender-identity/amp/)** > > A graduate instructor at the University of Oklahoma was placed on leave after giving a student a failing grade for rejecting the notion that someone’s identity can fall outside of the two gen… ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/13 "2025-12-06T03:09:26Z")
The rubric is posted in the Fox article linked in the OP. 10 points for relevance to the scholarly article, 10 points for thoughtful opinions, and 5 points for clarity of writing. I don’t know how you best apply that rubric here, but the obvious failing of her essay is that it makes no effort to address the content of the article. It’s the most superficial of takes. 10 percent seems appropriate. But I would also explain to a pre-med student that she’s signing up to help people, not pass judgment on them. She’s not in the right career if this is going to be her attitude to scientific articles about things that hurt her fee fees. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/14 "2025-12-06T03:13:13Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > She’s not in the right career if this is going to be her attitude to scientific articles about things that hurt her fee fees. OTOH, she’ll probably have her own show on Newsmax by this time next year. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/15 "2025-12-06T03:16:36Z")
The paper she was supposed to be responding to is “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence.”. It seems to be paywalled everywhere, but here’s the abstract: > The current study examines whether being high in gender typicality is associated with popularity, whether being low in gender typicality is associated with rejection/teasing, and whether the teasing due to low gender typicality mediates the association with negative mental health. Middle-school children (34 boys and 50 girls) described hypothetical popular and rejected/teased peers and completed self-report measures about their own gender typicality, experiences with gender-based teasing, depressive symptoms, anxiety, self-esteem, and body image. Participants also completed measures about their peers’ gender typicality, popularity, and likeability. Results indicated that popular youth were described as more gender typical than rejected/teased youth. Further, being typical for one’s gender significantly predicted being rated as popular by peers, and this relationship was moderated by gender. Finally, low gender typicality predicted more negative mental health outcomes for boys. These relationships were, at times, mediated by experiences with gender-based teasing, suggesting negative mental health outcomes may be a result of the social repercussions of being low in gender typicality rather than a direct result of low typicality. And of course her response was that bullying is good because The Bible. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/16 "2025-12-06T03:32:15Z")
I think the essay was garbage but I also think the teacher hung themself by writing such a long and obviously emotional explanation. It deserved some token credit since it was technically an essay, but a very low grade and something like - "the rubric clearly states this paper should support its claims with scientific evidence, " etc. or “doesn’t respond to the assigned question.” I agree a rubric up front would have helped. The moment the teacher invoked the student’s personal beliefs, they were screwed. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/17 "2025-12-06T03:38:43Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarilv see this as a problem So that right there earns her nul points IMO. Saying that bullying kids, who don’t confirm to gender norms, is OK is not a reasonable point of view to espose in an opinion essay. It’s a really hateful offensive thing to say. This has nothing to do with Christian beliefs I would expect a similar response if this was from an essay in a Christian theology college. Also is misspelling _necessarilv_ also in the original essay ? In this day and age where you have to go out if your way to misspell something, that’s a bunch of points off too. She’s lucky she didn’t get a negative score 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/18 "2025-12-06T03:56:53Z")
I can see how it can be difficult to allow views very much opposed to yours to pass in a class…especially when hateful. I wonder if the better route would be for the professor to choose two essays (or more) from those turned in and display them for the class to read and then have the class discuss them? Do NOT identify the authors of the essays and certainly enforce some decorum in the classroom during discussion but let the student’s peers put the pressure on to not be awful. Seems there could be a teaching moment here (IANATeacher). And, of course, impose whatever markdowns there are for bad grammar and whatever same as happens to any submitted coursework. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/19 "2025-12-06T04:10:08Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I think the essay was garbage but I also think the teacher hung themself by writing such a long and obviously emotional explanation. It deserved some token credit since it was technically an essay, but a very low grade and something like - "the rubric clearly states this paper should support its claims with scientific evidence, " etc. or “doesn’t respond to the assigned question.” I agree a rubric up front would have helped. The moment the teacher invoked the student’s personal beliefs, they were screwed. I have mixed feelings about the post I quote above. The essay was garbage. The fundamental problem is that she is addressing science with the Bible. And once the professor says that, tied to the rubric or not, it is going to offend. I like tact, but I do not see how the professor could have been both tactful and true to the subject matter. One question in my mind is whether it was possible to write a subtly but definitely offensive anti-trans response and still fairly gotten, say, a B. Without doing most of the student’s work for her, I do not know for sure. But, probably, yes. You would tear down the assigned reading on the basis of not proving its thesis. This could be done by setting up some standard of proof, involving randomization and controls, that sounds superficially plausible, even if it is impractical. Also, maybe there is some kind of conservative psychology journal somewhere that proports to be scientific, and never mentions the Bible, and has anti-trans articles with properly formatted footnotes. Cite that. This might be more work than doing the assignment in a fair-minded manner. But I think it is possible. Opposing science with the Bible is not an acceptable way to be a nasty SOB here. To get an A, when I went to school, you generally had to make some allowance for the possibility of your being wrong. That’s why I say the mythical paper I describe in the paragraph immediately above is a B. Maybe with grade inflation it is an A, but I hope not. The university had to decide if it was a science-respecting university, or a Bible school. Apparently they are a Bible school. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443/20 "2025-12-06T04:22:26Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > She’s not in the right career if this is going to be her attitude to scientific articles about things that hurt her fee fees. That would be true in a rational society, but these days she might well end up with a job as an enforcer of officially mandated “science”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-student-invokes-christian-beliefs-in-college-essay-gets-failing-grade/1025443.md?page=2)