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

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.

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.