University of Oklahoma student Samantha Fulnecky wrote a reaction essay not long ago to a scholarly article in psychology class and received a zero on the assignment. The academic article in question discussed gender norms in society and how they are enforced. Fulnecky’s job was to write a short 650-word essay reacting to this very politically and ideologically loaded paper. Unfortunately for her, the adjunct professor, William “Mel” Curth, is a grad student who is gender-confused.
In her essay, Fulnecky explained why she believes that gender roles should be reinforced. Namely, she believes that God created people male and female, He knitted them for a purpose, and He gave each gender certain gifts and strengths with which to carry out that purpose here on Earth. She did use some emphatic language, saying (accurately), “Society pushing that there are multiple genders and everyone should be what they want to be is demonic.”
In response, Curth asserted that Fulnecky’s article was ideological and demanded empirical evidence. Ironically, he exposed his own ideological bias.
Curth claimed that gender norms are reinforced by religious pressure and that, when writing a reaction paper, Fulnecky should use empirical evidence from scientific articles across disciplines such as biology and sociology. He concluded by exhorting her to use more perspective and empathy in her critiques and to avoid using ostensibly offensive language.
Not the Bee has Fulnecky’s essay in full. She tries to convey very philosophical ideas, though it’s not a very well-written essay. If Curth’s complaint was merely about that, then perhaps he had some standing. But to give her a zero was extremely malicious.
Joel Abbott articulated Fulnecky’s beliefs with this very incisive observation:
As a math professor once told me, even in mathematics, you will come to different answers with different starting premises, even though mathematics is empiricism in its truest form.
This is true for everything in all of life. Science is science, but how that data is interpreted does not, as much as the secularists like to preach, rely on empirical evidence alone.
Empiricism teaches that we can understand everything through observation, and yet the Founding Fathers did not run tests to conclude the “truths we hold to be self-evident.” Their conclusion that “all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights” was based on the rationalistic idea that we have an innate nature and can deduce things based on inner common sense.
The quality of the essay is beside the point, though. Frankly, unless this is a senior-level English class, it’s reasonable to have low expectations for such an essay. Fulnecky articulated her beliefs coherently enough while calling out her fellow students who would likely conform to the beliefs held by her professor so they “don’t step on people’s toes.”
She has a point. Most students lie to or exploit their Marxist professors in order to get a good grade.
For its part, the University of Oklahoma is addressing this controversy. Curth has been placed on administrative leave, and Fulnecky’s bad mark will not count toward her overall grade in the class.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt also weighed in on the controversy. “The 1st Amendment,” he posted, “is foundational to our freedom & inseparable from a well rounded education. The situation at OU is deeply concerning. I’m calling on the OU regents to review the results of the investigation & ensure other students aren’t unfairly penalized for their beliefs.”
The 1st Amendment is foundational to our freedom & inseparable from a well rounded education. The situation at OU is deeply concerning. I’m calling on the OU regents to review the results of the investigation & ensure other students aren’t unfairly penalized for their beliefs.
— Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) November 30, 2025
While it’s not surprising, even in deep-red Oklahoma, to find that a public university has a gender-confused professor teaching a class on “Lifespan Development,” it’s nice to see that the university is taking steps to address Curth’s partisan actions. Perhaps nature is truly starting to heal.
