William ‘Mel’ Curth, University of Oklahoma teaching assistant fired for failing Christian student, Samantha Fulnecky over gender essay after the student claimed being the victim of religious discrimination.
Religious discrimination…? The University of Oklahoma has fired Mel Curth, a transgender teaching assistant, for giving a self identified Christian student, Samantha Fulnecky an F on an essay paper discussing gender.
The firing comes weeks after the student’s flunking which touted her Christian faith leading to viral uproar against the school.
‘Based on an examination of the graduate teaching assistant’s prior grading standards and patterns, as well as the graduate teaching assistant’s own statements related to this matter, it was determined that the graduate teaching assistant was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper,’ the state’s flagship school said in a Monday evening statement. ‘The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the University.’
Investigation launched after Christian student alleging she was victim of religious discrimination
Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the school, received zero out of 25 on an assignment in which she referenced the Bible after graduate teaching assistant William ‘Mel’ Curth, who uses she/they pronouns, scored the paper.
Fulnecky has since alleged that she was flunked on the basis of religious discrimination.
The teaching assistant tasked Fulnecky and her classmates to examine whether conformity to gender norms was linked to popularity or bullying among middle school students. The assignment did not require students to provide empirical evidence in their responses.
The third-year student submitted an essay rooted primarily in Christian beliefs and biblical references, without substantively addressing the assigned scholarly material. The essay was graded as a failing assignment by the instructor, Mel Curth, a graduate teaching assistant who identifies as transgender. Curth stated the paper did not meet the academic requirements of the prompt.
Christian student references the Bible to discuss topics of gender norms
In her essay, Fulnecky responded by saying that gender norms should be celebrated, not denigrated. She cited Genesis, the first book of the Bible, in which God created men and women equally, but with separate purposes.
‘Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered ‘stereotypes,” Fulnecky wrote in her essay. ‘Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.’
She later described the societal push toward nonbinary gender identification as ‘demonic.’
Curth took exception to Fulnecky’s essay, and gave her a zero out of 25.
‘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,’ stated Curth’s explanation for the F grade.
Curth said the concept of only two sexes is not backed by science.
‘You may personally disagree with this, but that doesn’t change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed,’ Curth said, FOX News reported.
The graduate teaching assistant also called Fulnecky’s essay ‘highly offensive.’
Samantha Fulnecky admitted that she didn’t really read the article she was supposed to be responding to and just threw something together in 30 minutes. https://t.co/IxZ5Li47Bt pic.twitter.com/5Hj3lyND98
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) December 23, 2025
Teaching assistant calls Christian student’s ‘highly offensive’
‘I definitely think that I was being punished for what I believe because I very clearly stated in my essay in my response to the article, I very clearly stated my beliefs and stated what — not just my beliefs — but what the Bible and what God says about gender and about those roles,’ Fulnecky told Fox News amid the uproar.
Curth was placed on administrative leave after the student filed a discrimination claim while the university conducted an investigation.
University of Oklahoma; academically rigorous?
In its statement announcing Curth’s firing, the university said the school’s provost, described as the ‘highest-ranking academic officer,’ personally reviewed the incident before the decision to fire Curth was made.
‘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 said.
The school also noted that Fulnecky’s grade had been restored.
‘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.’
