NORMAN, Oklahoma — The University of Oklahoma removed another instructor from the classroom Friday amid escalating controversy over a graduate teaching assistant placed on leave after giving an undergraduate student a failing grade on a gender-related assignment. The latest removal came after the instructor allegedly told students they would be excused from class if they attended a campus protest supporting the teaching assistant.
OU Nightly, a student news outlet, first reported the incident. A student asked whether attending a counter-protest would also qualify, and the instructor reportedly said it must be an “organized protest.” No such protests occurred that day, and the student later filed a complaint with the university. Dr. Roxanne Mountford, director of First-Year Composition, called the attendance policy “inappropriate.”
University officials said the instructor “allegedly demonstrated viewpoint discrimination,” excusing absences for one viewpoint but not another.
The controversy began after psychology student Samantha Fulnecky received a zero on an assignment evaluating research on gender norms. Fulnecky’s essay argued—based on her understanding of the Bible—that there are only two genders, which the teaching assistant said relied on personal ideology rather than empirical evidence for a scientific class. Fulnecky filed a complaint, which circulated widely after the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA posted the essay online.
The teaching assistant was placed on administrative leave pending a review of the grading process. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt called the situation “deeply concerning” in a post on X.
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