University of Oklahoma instructor removed after essay controversy

The University of Oklahoma removed the instructor involved in a controversy over First Amendment rights after giving a failing grade to a student who cited her religious beliefs in an essay about gender rights.

"The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the university," the University of Oklahoma said in a statement on Monday, Dec. 22. It added that the university determined the instructor "was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper."

In November, Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the university, told The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network, that a psychology course instructor gave her a zero on a 650-word essay assignment in response to an article about how people are perceived based on societal gender expectations.

Fulnecky cited the Bible and her religious beliefs in the essay. The instructor, Mel Curth, wrote in an online grading system that parts of the essay were offensive.