What began as a dispute over a small assignment in a psychology course has since become the latest example of how Republican politicians and the media are whipping up culture war clashes on college campuses and turning them into national referendums on issues of gender, religion and academic freedom.
In September Texas A&M fires professor in a lesson about gender identity. As in Oklahoma, conservative politicians and the media rallied, sharing video of the incident and touting it as an example leftist “indoctrination”.A little over a week later President of Texas A&M resigned. Later that month, the Texas Tech University System stated in the memo that teachers could “only recognize two human genders” during classroom teaching.
The reaction to Fulneca's experience surprised even Magana.
“I already knew that Turning Point USA was a pretty big platform, and I knew it would gain some traction,” he said, “but I underestimated the power it would gain. But I knew that because of our efforts, action would be taken.”
Fulnecki, who grew up near Springfield, Missouri, did not respond to interview requests. She said she decided to go public with her experience in fighting for her free speech rights.
“My main goal is to encourage other Christians to stand up for their beliefs,” Fulnecky. said KOCHFox affiliate in Oklahoma City.
On the UW campus, some students are worried and scared.
Summer Edwards, graduate student senate chair and doctoral student in biomedical engineering, said many of her colleagues on campus fear for their employment and safety if they speak out because of what Turning Point USA might do with its national reach.
“Especially with finals season coming up,” Edwards said, “it’s scary to be the person, even me, who has to give grades knowing that the university could allow this to happen to anyone.”
Quiet start
The dispute over Fulneka's assessments unfolded calmly at first.
The week before Thanksgiving, she spoke on the phone with her mother, Christy Fulnecki, a former Missouri politician and lawyer who is committed to legal causes. The younger Fulnecki, an honors student who dreams of becoming a pediatrician, told her mom she was stunned by the grade on a recent psychology homework assignment and insisted she followed instructions, Christy. said last week Missouri talk radio show.
task requiring Students must write a clear and thoughtful response of 650 words to scientific article about gender expectations in society. According to screenshots In an essay published by her local chapter of Turning Point USA, Fulnecki wrote that she was irritated by the article and described how God created men and women differently. “A society that spreads the lie that there are multiple genders and that everyone should be whoever they want to be is demonic and seriously harms America’s youth,” she wrote.
Mel Kurth, a teaching assistant, wrote in the grading process that she was deducted points because Fulnecki submitted “work that does not answer the questions on this assignment, contradicts itself, actively uses personal ideology instead of empirical evidence in science classes, and is offensive at times,” according to screenshots of her posts.
Megan Waldron, a second graduate student co-teaching the course with Kurt, agreed with the assessment. “Everyone has their own view of the world, but in an academic course like this you are asked to back up your ideas with empirical data and higher-level reasoning,” she wrote to Fulnecki, according to screenshots.
Kurt declined to comment, citing the advice of her lawyer. Waldron did not respond to requests for comment.
At this point, the dispute could remain closed while the university's grade appeal process, which typically takes two to three months, was completed.
Fulnecki sent emails to Walters, as well as the university president, the psychology department chair, Gov. Kevin Stitt and the local newspaper. said on stage at a local Turning Point USA event.
Turning Point USA, founded by activist Charlie Kirk. has become widely known over the past decade in part for turning political differences on campus into a national controversy. Group Membership grew exponentially after Kirk's murder, including at the University of Oklahoma. Magana, the chapter's president, said their campus membership has grown from 15 to 2,000 in the past year.
But Magana said the chapter didn't even have an account for the group on X until he created an account to share Fulneca's story. November 27 chapter published screenshots of her essay and Kurt's explanation of why he gave her a zero. The posts labeled Kurt's posts as “trans professor comment” and Waldron's as “additional professor.”
The message quickly spread, setting off a chain reaction that rocked the university's Norman campus.
“Pop and Sizzle”
Essay and the Fulnecks quickly entered into an online political fray. Some liberals argued that the reaction to Fulnecky's essay was part of a broader attempt to paint Christians as persecuted, while many others taken apart her letter. Some made jokes and made personal attacks.
Conservatives, p. a few exceptionsrallied around her, arguing that the controversy was an example of a left-wing professor failing a student because of his Christian beliefs. This was followed by widespread media coverage locally and nationally, some of which focused on religious expression on campus and others focused on the gender identity of the faculty member.
Kurt subsequently received death threats and was harassed, according to the university's Graduate Student Senate, which called on the university to condemn the attacks she faced. Kurt is on leave and Waldron is suspended from the course while the university investigates religious discrimination. The university did not respond to requests for comment on the status of the investigation into Kurt and Waldron.
Fulnecki said that because they only communicated online, she did not know Kurt's gender identity until Turning Point USA pointed it out on social media. She told The College Fix, a conservative media nonprofit that focuses on universities, that she believes Kurt should be fired if she can't separate her personal feelings from her assignment grades.
In one of the many interviews in which she refused to use Kurt's pronouns, Fulnecki said she “never meant to hurt” Kurt and doesn't agree with the “really hurtful things” people write about Kurt online.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Fulnecki was also making connections with other political figures.
Magana introduced Fulnecky to Shane Jett, a state senator and chairman of the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus, and Bob Lynn, head of Original Constitutional Principles Affecting Culture (OCPAC), a prominent Christian group supporting far-right Republicans in the state. Jett said he immediately wrote to other lawmakers about the situation.
Lynn invited her to speak at the Dec. 3 OCPAC meeting because Fulneka's appearance brought “a lot of popularity and fizz” to the event, he said. Several students from Turning Point USA chapters and local media came to hear her speak, and the group played a video message from Walters in which he hailed Fulnecky as a “hero.” Gabe Woolley, Republican state representative from Tulsa, introduced her at a meeting with a Certificate of Appreciation for making her grades dispute public.
“I think the essay was simply a tool that was ultimately used to expose a larger issue,” Woolley said in an interview.
Sitting on a stool next to Fulnecky, Jett said he and other lawmakers have requested a meeting with the university president about the matter. “If you're taking pharmaceuticals and hormones that impair your rational abilities, you don't have business classes at our universities,” Jett said to applause from the audience and a nod from Fulneca, according to a video of the event. (Hormonal therapy, which is used to treat various conditions, does not have a negative effect on cognitive abilitiesaccording to treatment studies.)
All this attention was new to Fulneka. Her mother said on a radio show that of her six children, the Fulnecks are “the one who doesn't care about politics.” However, she was thrilled when Walters later connected with her via text message. conservative activist Riley Gaineswho her daughter looks up to.
“People who think she's doing this to become the next Riley Gaines – no, she wasn't trying to blow it up. People came to her,” Lynn said in the interview.
Busy Campus
Back on campus hundreds of studentsOn December 5, faculty and community members marched for Kurt as a third instructor was placed on leave following a complaint by Magana, the chapter president of Turning Point USA.
Magana told university officials that Kelly Alvarez, an assistant professor of English, told students on Dec. 3 that they would receive an excused absence if they demonstrated in support of Kurt. Magana said he asked if he could attend as a counter-protester and Alvarez told him he needed to organize his own protest and show that multiple students were present at the event or it would not be justified.
The university placed her on leave three hours after Magana reported her, he said.
Alvarez did not respond to requests for comment.
