Trans college instructor removed from teaching after failing ‘offensive’ essay that quoted Bible

Mel Curth, the University of Oklahoma graduate assistant who was put on administrative leave after she failed student Samantha Fulnecky’s Bible-citing psychology essay has been removed from her position following a discrimination investigation.

Back in November, and first reported by The Oklahoman, junior Fulnecky said she was asked to write a 650-word essay reacting to an article about how people are perceived based on societal expectations of gender, to which she penned a paper citing the Bible and no empirical evidence.

Fulnecky wrote that removing the concept of gender from society would be “detrimental” because it would put people “farther from God’s original plan for humans”, and described society “pushing the lie that there are multiple genders” is “demonic and severely harms American youth”.

Curth – who is trans and received an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award from the university’s psychology department earlier this year – gave her a score of 0 out of 25 and said she received that grade because she did not use empirical evidence and labelled parts of her essay “offensive”.

In her feedback, however, Curth explicitly stated the grade was nothing to do with Fulnecky’s religious beliefs.

Fulnecky believed she had been failed because she is a Christian who cited the Bible and sent a complaint to university leaders and lodged a discrimination claim against Curth.

In response, the University of Oklahoma launched and investigation into the matter and put Curth on administrative leave, stating at the time it “takes seriously concerns involving First Amendment rights, certainly including religious freedoms”.

On Monday (22 November), the university issued a statement in which it said Curth – who was not named – was “arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper” and “will no longer have instructional duties at the University”.

“Because this matter involves both student and faculty rights, the University has engaged in repeated and detailed conversations with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to ensure there is an understanding of the facts, the process, and the actions being taken,” the statement reads.

“The University of Oklahoma believes strongly in both its faculty’s rights to teach with academic freedom and integrity and its students’ right to receive an education that is free from a lecturer’s impermissible evaluative standards. We are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think. The University will continue to review best practices to ensure that its instructors have the comprehensive training necessary to objectively assess their students’ work without limiting their ability to teach, inspire, and elevate our next generation.

The institution added that the details of the discrimination investigation would not be released.

The University of Oklahoma’s conclusion to the investigation was quickly criticised by academics, with the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors lambasting the institution for hiding behind “vague statements”.

“Essentially, nothing is new here,” the chapter said in a statement to TV station KFOR.

“OU claims without providing any supporting or specific reasons why Mel Curth was removed. They have claimed in the past in press releases that this was due to supposed and disturbing claims of  “religious discrimination” that clash with academic freedom. Is it now? 

“Instead, they hide behind vague statements and essentially assertions of “trust us”. At this point, they need to show us and not tell us. And once again, OU is making an employment decision public, which is inflaming the situation.”