On December 22, 2025, University of Oklahoma (OU) officials announced that they had removed Mel Curth, a graduate student and teaching assistant, from teaching duties in relation to her decision to assign a student’s reflection paper a grade of zero.

At the time of her removal, Curth was serving as the teaching assistant for an undergraduate psychology course on lifespan development. In November 2025, Curth asked students in the course to write a short reflection paper responding to an academic article on gender. In her response, one student in the course referenced the Bible and her religious beliefs to argue that “God made male and female…differently,” calling the idea that there are multiple genders “a lie” and “demonic.” Curth gave the student a zero on the assignment, accompanying the grade with extensive feedback explaining that the student was graded as having not completed the assignment because she had not engaged substantively with the article and had not “employed the methodology of empirical psychology,” as required in the course. The feedback noted that the student was entitled to hold and express her personal beliefs in her response, but that she was expected to support her arguments “with other empirical findings or testable hypotheses.”

The student wrote to university officials contesting her grade. She also requested a formal appeals process and filed a claim of illegal discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs against Curth. In her email, the student copied Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt and former Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walter (who had recently resigned from his position to take up a separate role). On November 30, 2025, OU posted to X announcing that it had reached out to the student, had begun a review of the situation, and placed Curth on administrative leave. That same day, Governor Stitt also posted to X, expressing his concern about the situation at OU.

On December 22, 2025, OU announced that it had completed its investigation into the claim of religious discrimination and concluded that “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 graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the University.” The university’s statement also said that administrators had “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 OU AAUP chapter has raised questions about the appeal process, the extent of involvement of the FSEC, and the harshness of the sanction of removing Curth from teaching over a single grading dispute.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about a university’s decision to permanently remove a student instructor from teaching duties over a grading dispute. The right of instructors to evaluate the academic performance of the students in their class is a key aspect of academic freedom. While students have a right to appeal grades that they perceive as unfair, removing an instructor from teaching responsibilities over a single grading dispute, following an unclear review process and in a context of external political pressure, undermines academic freedom.

Sources:
https://www.oudaily.com/news/ou-bible-essay-graduate-instructor-samantha-fulnecky/article_4d684bc2-160a-4720-9701-9fcdc6858f44.html
https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-conservative-student-got-a-zero-on-her-paper-about-gender-did-she-deserve-it
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2026/01/06/okla-instructor-dismissed-teaching-appeals-decision
https://oklahomavoice.com/2026/01/06/professors-demands-answers-safeguards-from-university-of-oklahoma-after-bible-based-essay-debacle/
https://x.com/uofoklahoma/status/1995186884704690262?s=46
https://x.com/uofoklahoma/status/2003209457195741653?s=46&t=1dwObl1D32gS5VEeGiEk_A
https://x.com/GovStitt/status/1995209374193852595?s=20
https://bsky.app/profile/oklasotagal.bsky.social/post/3mb7ruasnms2b