PrintAnti-Christian bias at the University of Oklahoma
Educational institutions try to hire sane, responsible, ethical teachers, not only because when they don’t the quality of teaching suffers badly, but because they tend to embarrass the institutions that didn’t pay sufficient attention, or who hired idiots on purpose. Such a place is the University of Oklahoma, which raises a pertinent question: isn’t Oklahoma supposed to be a, you know, conservative state?
The issue at hand involves an assigned psychology class essay. According to The College Fix an essay by Junior Psychology student Samantha Fulnecky was given a failing grade—no credit.
The assignment asked students to react to an article about gender stereotypes, including “why you feel the topic is important and worthy of study (or not)” and how the study applies “to your own experiences.”
According to media reports, the assignment did not require citations or independent research, nor was student response limited in any way. Fulnecky answered from a Biblical perspective:
Graphic: X Post
“The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarily 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,” Fulnecky wrote. “Overall, reading articles such as this one encourage [sic] me to one day raise my children knowing that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and cherishes them deeply and that having their identity firmly rooted in who He is will give them the satisfaction and acceptance that the world can never provide for them.”
The trans graduate teaching assistant instructor, one Mel Curth, wasn’t particularly diverse or inclusive:
“Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point [sic] 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,” Curth wrote in response to Fulnecky.
“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.”
Fulnecky filed a discrimination complaint with the university, Curth was removed from the classroom, and the case went virally national. State legislators are threatening to cut funding to the University, and University officials responded as one might expect:
Graphic: University of Oklahoma. Public Domain.
Notice the “University” wrote the response, not an actual human being who might be held accountable.
What happened to Fulnecky isn’t an isolated incident either. The senator [Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin] brought up a situation a few months ago when an Oklahoma State University student government representative tried “to intimidate a student out of wearing a TPUSA hat given to him by Charlie Kirk.”
Legislators from the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus are reminding Oklahoma’s universities they have the power of the purse and are working to force change on anti-Christian bias, DEI and other concerns.
The caucus also is calling for a legislative audit of “ideological bias” in curriculum, grading practices, and hiring at state higher education institutions.
This is not only an issue of apparent leftist bias, but it’s also a matter of professional teaching practice. Professionals carefully construct their assignments and the grading criteria for each one. They do not allow their personal feelings or politics to invade the classroom, and they certainly never base their grading on those factors. If they’re true professionals, their students know nothing about their politics or their sexual proclivities.
On the first day of each new class I told my students I could be their friend, but their adult friend obligated to look out for their best interests, which included appropriate discipline and the highest academic standards. I was not ever going to be their middle-aged homey.
Sadly, that kind of professionalism is largely gone from “higher” education, a malady that apparently extends even to Oklahoma. Samantha Fulnecky has given anonymous University of Oklahoma management the opportunity to once again embrace professionalism. The threat of losing money may also serve to encourage them.
I doubt, however, Fulnecky is holding her breath. I'm not.
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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
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