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It's yesterday's news at this point, but the recent University of Oklahoma essay controversy has continued to fester in my brain for the sheer incongruence of reactions. In case you haven't heard, Samantha Fulnecky, a junior studying Psychology, received a 0 for submitting an essay whose central argument was essentially a blunt appeal to Biblical inerrancy. While I find this a suspect choice in even most religious studies courses, the assignment tasked her with reviewing a journal article about the effects of social pressures on adolescent gender presentation and identification - hardly something the Bible addresses directly. In response, the graduate student instructor, who is trans, gave her a zero. Fulnecky, in her (apparent) indignance, complained to the local chapter of TPUSA that this is an act of religious discrimination, and sparks flew. And they've kept flying. Fulnecky received an honorary award from the Oklahoma state Congress and has been speaking about her situation on Fox News. The university has sided with Fulnecky, placing the instructor on indefinite administrative leave until...the situation blows over? It's unclear how much "investigation" this really requires, but it is clear that Fulnecky has won the battle.
I am more interested in the war. Conservative scuffles at universities seem dime-a-dozen at this point, which makes it all the more surprising that this one has climbed out of the Twitter pit to receive national attention. For one, the essay is not particularly high-quality. This is not a case where a student submitted a carefully argued theological analysis, but instead appealed to the most straightforward of scriptural arguments and didn't even cite the verses in question! While the resulting grade of 0 seems slightly punitive and I don't doubt it was motivated by some level of personal offense, the professor's response hardly could be considered discriminatory. I've heard some grumblings that the instructor gave this grade specifically because she is trans - so it hurt more, or something - but I think most cis psychology profs these days would have a similar reaction. I think Fulnecky deserved some points, but not many. She lacks one of the most foundational skills a college-level writer needs: adapting your ideas to your audience.
Speculation on Twitter is running wild, suggesting that Fulnecky intentionally submitted a poor essay to gain some conservative street-cred, that her lawyer mother is involved, and plenty of other mental gymnastics. I don't blame the gymnasts - this case has been elevated to levels that are suspiciously unjustified, in my view. The banal reason is that it's easy pickings for conservative commentators who are salivating for any story they can nut-pick to put on the evening news block. But is that really all it takes? Can a religious person do any wrong in the eyes of the New Right? I realize writing this that I sound completely incredulous that the media could blow up a story, but seeing it happen in real-time has been pretty mind boggling. Read the essay and let me know what you think. I don't want to be mistaken for consensus-building here, and I would welcome any and all steelmans for the pro-Fulnecky position. Maybe I've been cut by yet another scissor statement (in this case, essay).
This is further evidence to me that red-tribers have completely abandoned most institutes of higher education. It's no longer a question of "we must reform the universities and stop them from being ideologically possessed!" but "the universities are ideologically possessed and the only way out is avoidance/destruction." It doesn't help when college graduates seem to be fleeing the red tribe like it's got the plague - it's much easier to prop up a controversy when the remaining red tribers lack the personal experience to vet it properly. All this to say: I think universities are really going to have it rough under this administration. They've already been sued to hell and back. If the red tribe couldn't turn the university system around by playing nice, they're going to do it by force - social, legal, or otherwise.
The obvious place to start would be the following question: "Let's see the other essays submitted and the grades they received." I would imagine someone asking that question is why the school has so abruptly sided with Fulnecky, because I would bet a hundred bucks to the charity of my opposite's choice that there were objectively worse essays given better grades in that grading pile. Do you think I'm overly confident in that assessment, particularly given the school's response? If you don't, then what's the basis of our disagreement?
You think that the grade seems punitive. I agree. I think the essay deserves a bad grade, and it seems to me you agree. The question is why it got this specific grade. How many zeroes has this instructor handed out over the last year or two or five? What patterns might emerge from how the instructor typically concludes that a zero is assigned? If, as many other people are noting, most instructors never give a zero for a turned-in essay exhibiting even the most minimal amount of effort, and this instructor is typically no different, then the obvious question is what was different here. And shucks howdy, wouldn't you know it, we appear to have a likely candidate right off the bat...
Religion is a protected category under civil rights law. I'm given to understand that discrimination in grading based on protected characteristics would be a straightforward violation of the student's first amendment rights, and is the sort of thing that institutions with deep pockets have been routinely taken to the cleaners for over the last several decades. Nor is this issue some mystery wrapped in an enigma; show the rest of the grading pile, and maybe the last few grading piles too, and one of two patterns should clearly emerge.
Again, the argument is not that this student wrote a good essay. The argument, which appears to have won more or less immediately, is that the instructor was nakedly discriminatory on the basis of religion against one of their students. No one is confused about whether or not this is an instantly career-ending offense in the general case, but until recently there has, by all evidence available, been a tacit understanding within Academia that Christians don't really have actual civil rights.
It's possible that Fulnecky is actually an ignoramus and the essay in question represents the best intellectual output she's capable of producing. On the other hand, it's entirely possible that the University should award her her erstwhile instructor's degree, because she just schooled them. I do not think that considering the later possibility represents "mental gymnastics", and again, this is a question we could easily answer by examining her other essays. I'd bet most of them read like median college student essays.
The possibility you ought to consider a bit more is that this is may in fact be an example of student activism, of exactly the sort Academia has openly claimed a mission to encourage and inculcate for many, many decades. In that case, the only novel bit here would be who it's aimed at.
I mean, the University of Oklahoma almost certainly is highly worried about the state government taking away big chunks of its independence for political reasons, and telling a trans TA(so not even a professor) to shut up and sit down is a small price to pay.
If this is in fact an example of unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of religion, then I would not describe the removal of their independence as "for political reasons".
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