A University of Oklahoma professor is now facing disciplinary action in relation to a zero grade given to a Christian student in a recent essay.
Last week, the school confirmed that teaching assistant William "Mel" Curth, who uses she/they pronouns, had been removed from the classroom after flunking student Samantha Fulnecky on an essay wherein Fulnecky invoked her Christian beliefs and the Bible.
Now, an assistant teaching professor is accused of viewpoint discrimination stemming from a protest organized to advocate for Curth's return to the classroom.
The University of Oklahoma gave her a zero out of 25.
The teaching assistant said the essay lacked empirical evidence, which was not a requirement in the grading rubric, which cited three criteria for grading.
"Does the paper show a clear tie-in to the assigned article?" was the first criterion, worth up to 10 out of the assignment's 25 total points.
"Does the paper present a thoughtful reaction or response to the article, rather than a summary?" was the second, also worth up to 10 points.
"Is the paper clearly written?" is the last criterion, worth up to five points.
"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," Curth's response said.
"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 continued.
Fulnecky told Fox News Digital she believed the grade was punitive.
"I was asked to read an article and give my opinion on the article, and the article was about gender binary and mental health and gender stereotypes, specifically in children, because it's a lifespan development class," Fulnecky, who was shocked by the zero grade, told Fox News Digital. "So I was asked to give my opinion and my reaction to the paper."
"So I did this assignment the same as I would any other in that class, gave my opinion on gender binary and gender stereotypes and that, naturally my views are from the Bible and my Christian kind of worldview," she said. "And so that's what I wrote about and I didn't think anything of it."
Curth is currently on administrative leave.