OU Removes a 2nd Instructor Amid Gender Debate

A debate over a student's essay on gender norms isn't dying down at the University of Oklahoma, where a second instructor has now been removed from the classroom. Teaching assistant William "Mel" Curth was first suspended after giving student Samantha Fulnecky a zero on an essay in which Fulnecky cited her Christian beliefs to support traditional gender norms. Now, the situation has escalated further with assistant teaching professor Kelli Alvarez facing disciplinary action for allegedly offering excused absences to students who wanted to attend a Friday protest supporting Curth's return to the classroom, but not for those intending to counter-protest, report Fox News and the OU Daily.

The university didn't name the professor, but its Turning Point USA chapter did, per Fox. It claimed chapter president Kalib Magana asked for an excused absence to protest against Curth's return and Alvarez refused to give one unless a "documented group [of counter-protesters] could be organized." Critics say this amounts to viewpoint discrimination. The university said a school director noted "the university classroom exists to teach students how to think, not what to think," and removed the lecturer "for the remainder of the semester." Both Alvarez and Curth are now on administrative leave. Curth claimed Fulnecky's essay was "offensive," relied too heavily on personal ideology, and lacked the empirical evidence expected for the assignment, though students say such evidence was not explicitly required.