What? You can’t source the Good Book?
A psychology student at the University of Oklahoma by the name of Samantha Fulnecky currently finds herself in the middle of quite the controversy. The pre-med student, sorority member and former tennis athlete, who is a junior at the school, referenced and cited The Bible for an essay about gender binary labels in her 2000-level psychology class.
Fulnecky received a zero as a grade for the assignment.
She was told that the grade was given because she interjected religious beliefs in the opinion essay, and the teaching assistant who graded the written piece suggested that Fulnecky didn’t provide evidence based on the psychological scientific method to support her claims. The psychology student had previously received perfect grades on her assignments, but had presumably never referenced The Bible prior to this essay.
When Fulnecky was asked to comment on her essay getting a zero grade, she told KOKH:
“My main goal is to encourage other Christians to stand up for their beliefs. I pointed out that it didn’t say anywhere I needed evidence, and his response was, ‘No that was the grade you deserved.'”
As you might imagine, the story has sparked a lot of outrage. The Oklahoma student reached out to the Governor Kevin Stitt to inform him of what had played out on the university’s campus. Some like the Turning Point USA Oklahoma Chapter and the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus have rushed to Fulnecky’s defense, and have asked for the university to reverse the failing grade and apologize to the young woman. TPUSA even posted the entire essay to their social media page, and it’s been viewed over 15 million times.
On the flip side, others have argued that if it wasn’t a theology paper, citing The Bible can be a bit complicated. Though it’s obviously an important reference and one of the oldest books in the world, it isn’t always viewed as a proper source from an academic standpoint.
What makes this situation all the more complicated is that the teaching assistant that graded Fulnecky’s paper is transgender. The Oklahoma student says that she wasn’t aware of that, and was in no way trying to buck against the TA’s personal beliefs. However, Fulnecky does believe that the teaching assistant being the one to look over the essay played a role in her failing grade.
The university has since put the TA on paid administrative leave, and Oklahoma has also decided that the essay grade won’t affect Samantha Fulnecky’s final grade in the class (but they are still leaving it as a zero grade, as of right now). It’s a story that’s captivating the country, and sparking debate on whether religion and academics can mix in a civil manner.
It’s certainly gotten the attention of Turning Point USA’s Oklahoma chapter:
You can also read Fulnecky’s full essay below:
Samantha’s Essay (4of5) pic.twitter.com/jX3iu22I6f
— TPUSA_OU (@TurningPointOU) November 27, 2025
Samantha’s Essay (5/5) & directions for the assignment pic.twitter.com/Thnn1E2alp
— TPUSA_OU (@TurningPointOU) November 27, 2025
And here’s the feedback that she given by the teaching assistant:
Trans Professors response to Samantha’s essay pic.twitter.com/wQRlC6fCEy
— TPUSA_OU (@TurningPointOU) November 27, 2025
Here’s the full statement from the school:
