AHS students and faculty on the incident with Samantha Fulnecky
In late 2025, Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the University of Oklahoma (OU), received a 0 out of 25 from teaching assistant Mel Curth, who is transgender, on an essay she had written for a psychology course. Fulnecky’s essay, grounded in her Christian faith, argued in favor of traditional, conservative gender roles and had numerous references to the Bible.
Because of her grade, Fulnecky filed a claim of religious discrimination and reached out to the OU chapter of Turning Point USA, a non-profit organization that advocates for conservative politics in schools—amplifying the conflict into a national controversy.
Victor Yeung (12), who is currently taking AP Psychology, said, “If I turned that in, I would expect a 0. The writing quality is poor; the argument is weak and anecdotal. Using the Bible as a pretext for scientific reasoning and logic is counterproductive and opens up the opportunity to use any biased and unreliable sources that support an equally biased opinion.”
Curth said, “I am deducting points for you posting a reaction paper that does not answer the questions for this assignment, contradicts itself, heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence in a scientific class, and is at times offensive”(Photo Credit: The College Fix).
While some believed Fulnecky’s essay warranted the grade, others felt it was a violation of her free speech rights. “The teacher’s choice violated the establishment clause of freedom of religion in the First Amendment,” said Thomas Lin (12), who is a Christian and the secretary of Youth Alive, the Christian club at AHS. “She chose to decide that the school was against such Christian beliefs on gender and the implications of the Creation through her grading.”
Mr. Noori, an AP U.S. Government and Politics teacher, said, “I don’t believe the grading was fair because it seems like [Curth] was imposing her viewpoint on gender on her students—but firing her was probably an overreach by the administration.”
On December 22, 2025, OU released a statement announcing the conclusion of their investigation into Fulnecky’s claim. They ruled in her favor, deciding to remove the assignment from her grade and to dismiss Curth from instructional duties.
Though Mr. Noori often incorporates political discussion in his classroom, including debates between students and, at times, expressing his own political views, he still upholds the importance of neutrality. He said, “I try to stay objective. I try to point out things that both the Democrats and the current administration do wrong. I am very against censorship. It’s dangerous for teachers to punish students because they have a different view.”
The incident with Fulnecky’s essay has sparked national debate on censorship in academic settings (Photo Credit: OU Daily).
However, Lin still cited instances where he felt his religious beliefs had been suppressed. “I have had a few circumstances where I hear classmates saying how they dislike people who hold Protestant Christian beliefs, or just say that they don’t like Christians at all. Oftentimes, my wanting to tell other people about Christianity results in many refusing to let me say anything to them,” he explained.
Mr. Noori continued to defend the importance of political discussion, particularly with students, saying, “It’s important in helping keep the class connected to the real world and what’s happening. But, even if a student disagrees with something I’m passionate about, I find their differing opinions interesting.”
The belief that firing Curth sets a dangerous precedent for the future has sparked debate about censorship in schools. Many left-leaning people argued that firing the teacher decreases the university’s credibility as an institute of higher education and promotes prejudice, while many on the right claimed the incident was an oppression of Fulnecky’s religious beliefs. Yeung said, “I think censorship already exists in a few different forms in academics, but for those who do not support religious beliefs influencing scientific studies, this case opens the door for potentially allowing their ideas to be censored.”
Though AHS has not had an incident like this, it does not mean repression is nonexistent. Lin said, “Whenever our club hosts Evangelical outreach events, we have to tread more lightly as our school environment among both the staff and students is not that welcoming towards Youth Alive spreading the Gospel.”
Curth has since submitted an appeal to OU’s decision to the Institutional Equity Office, according to her attorney, Brittany Stewart.
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