How an Oklahoma student's gender essay became a national culture war fight

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How an Oklahoma student's gender essay became a national culture war fight

Conservative activists and politicians have rallied around a college student who received a zero on an essay. Some grad students said they’re worried about what happens next.


Samantha Fulnecky, a college junior, contacted journalists and politicians about her grade dispute.Doug Hoke / The Oklahoman via USA TODAY Network

Dec. 14, 2025, 6:30 PM EST
By Tyler Kingkade and Jo Yurcaba

Ryan Walters had a suggestion for the University of Oklahoma student who emailed him for help over a bad grade. ... “Fight back." ... The student, Samantha Fulnecky, a junior on a pre-med track, recently got a 0 on her essay that leaned on her Christian beliefs for an assignment on gender stereotypes in her psychology class. The instructor told her in a Nov. 16 message that her essay was offensive and lacked evidence. Fulnecky said she felt like she’d been penalized for her religious views.

Walters, the CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance, a political nonprofit that opposes teachers unions, gained a national reputation for taking on culture war issues related to education during his time as the state schools superintendent. He quickly got on the phone with her. ... He encouraged her to sue and promised to try to get the Trump administration and state officials to investigate anti-Christian bias at the University of Oklahoma and demand funding cuts. And he believed she needed to go public.

“Taxpayers are paying into this institution,” he said in an interview. “They need to know exactly what’s going on. We need to be bringing more of these issues to the surface and not allowing college education bureaucracy to sweep this nonsense under the rug.” ... Fulnecky appeared to follow his advice. She spoke with a local reporter at The Oklahoman, which published the first story about Fulnecky’s grade on Nov. 25. She then asked Kalib Magana, the president of the university’s Turning Point USA chapter, if he would use the group’s social media accounts to publicize what happened to her assignment. He did, and the group’s X post, which said that one of the instructors who graded Fulnecky’s essay is transgender, racked up more than 47 million views.

Fulnecky’s fight quickly went from a local controversy to a national one. Republican lawmakers in deep-red Oklahoma called on the university president to resign and threatened to cut the school’s funding. Fulnecky appeared multiple times on Fox News, spoke onstage at a local Turning Point USA event and received an award at another political group’s event. ... Two instructors have now been placed on leave, and one has been removed from teaching a course. On OU’s campus, protests and counterprotests have erupted. The governor called on the university’s governing board to get involved, and several state GOP lawmakers have drawn attention to the instructor’s identity and demanded meetings with university leadership.

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Tyler Kingkade
Tyler Kingkade is a national reporter for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.

Jo Yurcaba
Jo Yurcaba is a reporter for NBC Out.

[aeromanKC]

1. Fruit from the poisonous tree.

It doesn't matter the content, you didn't follow the rules. It's not getting in.

[3Hotdogs]

2. SHe's hot. If she were a blond, she'd be offered a job in D.C.

Expect her to be running for Congress in '30.

[Timeflyer]

3. So true. She'll likely get on the Heritage Foundation grift and earn big-time social media appearances money.