A second professor at the University of Oklahoma (OU) has been removed from the school in response to a student’s controversial essay on gender that cited the Bible.
A transgender teaching assistant was recently placed on administrative leave after giving a student a zero on an assignment about gender and mental health after the student accused the instructor of discriminating against her beliefs. Now, a second professor has been placed on leave for allegedly encouraging students to protest the first instructor’s suspension and promising to excuse student absences, the university’s Turning Point USA chapter said in an Instagram post.
Students were invited to attend a “Sources not sermons” protest, but were denied an excused absence if they wanted to protest in support of the student unless they could document a large turnout for the counterprotest, according to the Turning Point chapter. The image included in the post appears to show the professor in a “Protect trans kids” t-shirt.
The university said the “lecturer’s actions were inappropriate and wrong.”
“Immediately upon learning of the situation, the Director of First-Year Composition told students in class today and by email that the lecturer’s actions were inappropriate and wrong, and that the university classroom exists to teach students how to think, not what to think,” the university said in a Dec. 5 statement. “The Director further stated that any student, regardless of viewpoint, would be excused if absent from class today to attend the protest without penalty, and that the lecturer had been replaced, effective immediately, for the remainder of the semester.”
The student’s essay made the claim that “pushing the lie that there are multiple genders” is “demonic,” which the professor said was “highly offensive.” The professor also claimed the student failed to use empirical evidence and said the essay was full of contradictions and did not answer the prompt.
The junior psychology student told The Oklahoman she was “clearly discriminated against for my beliefs and using freedom of speech, and especially for my religious beliefs.” She also claims the assignment rubric did not require students to use empirical evidence.
In a video posted to the Turning Point chapter account, the student also rebukes claims the poor grade may be attributed to the essay’s grammar, which many have criticized online. The student said she has received high grades on every other similar assignment in the class using the same writing style and grammar.
OU said it takes First Amendment rights seriously and is reviewing the situation, including the student’s grade.
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