Samantha Fulnecky, the University of Oklahoma student who received a zero on a psychology essay about gender after using the Bible as her only source, was honored by the Oklahoma House of Representatives with a special "Citation of Recognition" this week after her complaint—which resulted in a transgender graduate student being placed on administrative leave—made headlines.
Fulnecky's instructor Mel Curth, a transgender woman, assigned her students a 650-word essay about how gender stereotypes impact societal expectations of individuals. Fulnecky instead wrote about what the Bible says about "traditional gender roles," arguing that to refer to them as "stereotypes" is "demonic."
Curth began their feedback to Fulnecky by stressing that the grade was not penalized over the student’s personal views, but instead reflected the fact that she failed to follow the assignment guidelines, contradicted her own arguments, included offensive remarks, and offered no empirical support.
But Fulnecky complained—and immediately received the support of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, which said Curth "lacks the intellectual maturity to set her own bias aside and take grading seriously."
Now Oklahoma is honoring Fulnecky for claiming she was experiencing religious discrimination in the classroom—she was awarded a Citation of Recognition from the Oklahoma House of Representatives' 98th District for "speaking from a foundation of truth," per conservative state Representative Gabe Woolley.
He wrote the following on X, also sharing a photo of the moment Fulnecky received the honor:
"Today, we had the honor of presenting Samantha with a Citation of Recognition from the Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 98, for her steadfast convictions, her commitment to speaking from a foundation of truth, and her courage in shining a light on serious concerns within Oklahoma’s higher education system."
"In a moment when social media and traditional media are flooded with misinformation, this story has drifted far from what actually occurred. Today, we were able to hear directly from Samantha herself, and she walked us through the real events in her own words."
"With all the political noise and media distractions set aside, the truth was finally able to stand on its own."
You can see his post and the photo below.
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Fulnecky also appeared on Fox News to talk about her experience, saying she "would rather have my integrity and give my true opinion and get a zero on an assignment than have to lie about what I really believe."
She and the Oklahoma House of Representatives are facing heavy criticism.
Funnily enough, a social media user pointed out that even X's AI chatbot had given Fulnecky a failing grade for the assignment.
Grok determined that Fulnecky's essay contains almost no accurate summary of the article; in fact, while "one sentence vaguely mentions 'gender norms,'" Fulnecky "never names the study, methods, or findings." Fulnecky also gets no points because she didn't cite any evidence—her "repeated assertions that non-binary gender is 'demonic' and a 'lie from Satan' are presented as fact without evidence."
Fulnecky scores no points for clarity, organization, and grammar due to "multiple run-on sentences, shifting verb tenses, and repetitive phrasing. Grok concluded her argument is "circular" and that the essay contains "inflammatory language targeting LGBTQ+ people that is irrelevant to the article."
The essay, at 743 words, is also already over the word limit and receives an "automatic 5-point deduction." The essay lacks citations, a reference list, and does not engage with Curth's assigned prompt.
Despite all of this, the University of Oklahoma caved to Fulnecky's demands and assured her that the essay won't count against her final grade in the class, with a school representative telling The Oklahoman that a review of the incident "resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments."
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