Norman, Oklahoma - The University of Oklahoma recently removed a graduate teaching assistant after they gave a zero to a student for their Bible-based gender essay.
According to CNN, Samantha Fulnecky, a 20-year-old junior at the school, was recently given a project for a psychology class on lifespan development.
The assignment asked students to write a response to an academic study that examined whether conformity with gender norms was associated with popularity or bullying among middle school students.
While Fulnecky completed the assignment, teaching assistant Mel Curth gave her a zero.
In the notes, Curth argued the paper did "not answer the questions for the assignment," relied on "personal ideology" over evidence, and "is at times offensive."
Fulnecky filed an appeal of the grade, arguing she had been discriminated against for her religion, and in an X post on Monday, the University announced that they had ruled in her favor.
The university found that the assistant had been "arbitrary" in giving Fulnecky the grade.
"The University of Oklahoma believes strongly in both its faculty's rights to teach with academic freedom and integrity and its students' right to receive an education that is free from a lecturer's impermissible evaluative standards," the school said in its statement.
"We are committed to teaching students how to think, not what to think."
Did the essay deserve a failing grade?
In a copy of her essay provided to The Oklahoman, Fulnecky expressed frustration over the premise of the assignment, and instead used it as a platform to discuss her religious beliefs.
Fulnecky argued that she does not see a problem with children using teasing "as a way to enforce gender norms" because "God made male and female" with a "purpose," and "trying to change that would only do more harm."
"Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders and everyone should be whatever they want to be is demonic and severely harms American youth," she added.
The story has gotten a lot of attention from right-wing media, as critics see Fulnecky's situation as the oppression of Christian and conservative values, and a symptom of "wokeness" taking over colleges, something that President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted is a major problem.