A University of Oklahoma student who received a 0 on an essay about gender roles and stereotypes has become a new totem for Turning Point USA and the MAGA movement.
The OU arm of Turning Point, the conservative advocacy group co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, ignited the firestorm last week after Samanta Fulnecky, a 20-year-old student, claimed her failing grade was the result of religious discrimination.
The assignment, given in a lifespan-development psychology course, required students to write a 650-word response to an academic study exploring whether middle-school students who conformed to traditional gender norms were more likely to be popular or subjected to bullying.
“In her essay, Fulnecky argued that traditional gender roles should not be considered stereotypes,” Turning Point OU wrote on X. “She cited the Bible to support her stance that eliminating gender in society would be ‘detrimental’ because that would put people ‘farther from God’s original plan for humans.’ ”
Fulnecky mentioned God and the Bible throughout her paper and wrote that the “lie that there are multiple genders … is demonic and severely harms American youth.”
The chapter alleged that the instructor, who is transgender, displayed religious bias: “Professors like this are the very reason conservatives feel unable to voice their beliefs in the classroom.”
In its defense of Fulnecky, Turning Point OU posted images of the professor’s comments on her paper.
“Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting points for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for the assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive,” wrote Mel Curth, the course’s instructor.
In an interview with CBS affiliate KWTV, Fulnecky said that her paper should have been given a perfect score.
“We have been getting these papers all semester, and I’ve written them all the same,” she told KWTV. “And I’ve gotten a 100 on all of them up until this point.”
Fulnecky also appeared on Fox News on Wednesday, saying “I would rather have my integrity and get a 0 than lie about what I believe.”
According to a statement from the University of Oklahoma, Curth has been placed on administrative leave while the incident is under review. Gov. Kevin Stitt also urged OU’s Board of Regents to launch an investigation, calling the situation “deeply concerning.”
Curth has not publicly commented on the situation.
Amid the controversy, Fulnecky has been embraced by Republican politicans and prominent MAGA figures.
Rep. Gabe Woolley (R-Okla.) on Wednesday presented Fulnecky with a Citation of Recognition from the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
He praised 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 post on X.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that the incident was evidence of “intellectual rot in higher education.”
The Oklahoma Freedom Caucus, a right-wing coalition within the state’s Legislature, called for public institutions to lose state funding “until free speech and religious liberty are verifiably protected so conservatives are no longer targeted while leftists rage and roam across campus violating the rights of others.”
Fulnecky’s dispute with OU has become the latest lightning rod in MAGA’s efforts to root out “gender ideology” from public education institutions.
In recent months, dozens of professors have been fired or disciplined over controversies tied to political expression.
At Texas A&M University, a faculty member was dismissed after a video circulated online showing her discussing gender in class; she was accused of teaching a course that acknowledged more than two genders.