OU student Samantha Fulnecky, a 20-year-old junior on a pre-med track, wrote the essay as part of an assignment for a psychology class taught by Mel Curth, a male teaching assistant who uses “she/they” pronouns. Here’s how Samantha described the assignment:
“I was asked to read an article and give my opinion on the article, and the article was about gender binary and mental health and gender stereotypes, specifically in children, because it’s a lifespan development class, so I was asked to give my opinion and my reaction to the paper.”
The scholarly article on which she was to offer her opinion was titled, “Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence,” and students could earn up to 25 points on the essay. Curth broke down the grading like this:
“Does the paper show a clear tie-in to the assigned article?” is the first, worth up to 10 out of the assignment’s 25 total points.
“Does the paper present a thoughtful reaction or response to the article, rather than a summary?” is the second, also worth up to 10 points.
“Is the paper clearly written?” is the last criterion, worth up to five points.
(Samantha was given a zero)