I’ve been seeing this story pop up here and there and wanted to see what everybody was so upset about.
Luckily, TurningPointOU posted screenshots. The transcripts are below and I’ve rehosted the screenshots on Catbox.
What grade would you have given?
The assignment
(screenshot) You must write a 650 words (body of text), double-spaced reaction paper demonstrating that you read the assigned article, and includes a thoughtful reaction to the material presented in the article. Points will be deducted when papers are deficient in any of these areas. I will deduct 10 points if your paper is between 620 and 649 words, and I will not give credit for papers under 620 words. Papers not turned in by the deadline will not receive credit.
Please remember that your reaction paper should not be a summary, but rather a thoughtful discussion of some aspect of the article. Possible approaches to reaction papers include:
- A discussion of why you feel the topic is important and worthy of study (or not)
- An application of the study or results to your own experiences
(screenshot) There are other possibilities as well. The best reaction papers illustrate that students have read the assigned materials and engaged in critical thinking about some aspect of the article.
Formatting requirements: 12-point Times New Roman or Calibri font, one-inch margins on all sides.
GRADING: Reaction papers are graded on a 25-point scale, and are evaluated based on the following:
- Does the paper show a clear tie-in to the assigned article? (10 points)
- Does the paper present a thoughtful reaction or response to the article, rather than a summary? (10 points)
- Is the paper clearly written? (5 points)
Samantha's paper
(screenshot) This article was very thought provoking and caused me to thoroughly evaluate the idea of gender and the role it plays in our society. The article discussed peers using teasing as a way to enforce gender norms. I do not necessarily see this as a problem. God made male and female and made us differently from each other on purpose and for a purpose. God is very intentional with what He makes, and I believe trying to change that would only do more harm. Gender roles and tendencies should not be considered “stereotypes”. Women naturally want to do womanly things because God created us with those womanly desires in our hearts. The same goes for men. God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men and we should live our lives with that in mind.
(screenshot) It is frustrating to me when I read articles like this and discussion posts from my classmates of so many people trying to conform to the same mundane opinion, so they do not step on people’s toes. I think that is a cowardly and insincere way to live. It is important to use the freedom of speech we have been given in this country, and I personally believe that eliminating gender in our society would be detrimental, as it pulls us farther from God’s original plan for humans. It is perfectly normal for kids to follow gender “stereotypes” because that is how God made us. The reason so many girls want to feel womanly and care for others in a motherly way is not because they feel pressured to fit into social norms. It is because God created and chose them to reflect His beauty and His compassion in that way. In Genesis, God says that it is not good for man to be alone, so He
(screenshot) created a helper for man (which is a woman). Many people assume the word “helper” in this context to be condescending and offensive to women. However, the original word in Hebrew is “ezer kenegdo” and that directly translates to “helper equal to”. Additionally, God describes Himself in the Bible using “ezer kenegdo”, or “helper”, and He describes His Holy Spirit as our Helper as well. This shows the importance God places on the role of the helper (women’s roles). God does not view women as less significant than men. He created us with such intentionally and care and He made women in his image of being a helper, and in the image of His beauty. If leaning into that role means I am “following gender stereotypes” then I am happy to be following a stereotype that aligns with the gifts and abilities God gave me as a woman.
(screenshot) I do not think men and women are pressured to be more masculine or feminine. I strongly disagree with the idea from the article that encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence. 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. I do not want kids to be teased or bullied in school. However, pushing the lie that everyone has their own truth and everyone can do whatever they want and be whoever they want is not biblical whatsoever. The Bible says that our lives are not our own but that our lives and bodies belong to the Lord for His glory. I live my life based on this truth and firmly believe that there would be less gender issues and insecurities in children if they were raised knowing that they do not belong to themselves, but they belong to the Lord.
Trans professor's comments
(screenshot) Mel Curth (She/They)
November 16, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I am deducting point 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. While you are entitled to your own personal beliefs, there is an appropriate time or place to implement them in your reflections. I encourage all students to question or challenge the course material with other empirical findings or testable hypotheses, but using your own personal beliefs to argue against the findings of not only this article, but the findings of countless articles across psychology, biology, sociology, etc. is not best practice. You argue that abiding by normative gender roles is beneficial (it is perfectly fine to believe this), but to then say that everyone should act
(screenshot) the same, while also saying that people aren’t pressured into gendered expectations is contradictory, especially since your arguments reflect a religious pressure to act in gender-stereotypical ways. You can say that strict gender norms don’t create gender stereotypes, but that isn’t true by definition of what a stereotype is. Please note that acknowledging gender stereotypes does not immediately denote a negative connotation, a nuance this article discusses. Additionally, to call an entire group of people “demonic” is highly offensive, especially a minoritized population. You are entitled to your own beliefs, but this isn’t a vague narrative of “society pushes lies,” but instead the result of countless years developing psychological and scientific evidence for these claims and directly interacting with the communities involved. You may personally disagree with this, but that
(screenshot) doesn’t change the fact that every major psychological, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric association in the United States acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed. I implore you apply some more perspective and empathy in your work. If you personally disagree with the findings, then by all means share your criticisms, but make sure to do so in a way that is appropriate and using the methodology of empirical psychology, as aligned with the learning goals in this class. If you have any additional questions or concerns about this or would like some additional educational resources, I would be happy to discuss this further and provide you with them.
Additional professor's comments
(screenshot) Megan Waldron (She/Her/Hers)
November 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Samantha, I am the other instructor for this course, and I have also taken the time to read your paper. I concur with Mel on the grade you received. This paper should not be considered as a completion of the assignment. Everyone has different ways in which they see the world, but in an academic course such as this you are being asked to support your ideas with empirical evidence and higher-level reasoning. I find it concerning that you state at the beginning of your paper that you do not think bullying (“teasing”) is a bad thing. In addition, your paper directly and harshly criticizes your peers and their opinions, which are just as valuable as yours. Disagreeing with others is fine, but there is a respectful way to go about it. That goes for discussion posts as well as reaction papers. Please employ more thoughtfulness in your future assignments.
An attempt was made. It’s clear that at least the student read the article from the assignment, and turned something in. The fact that it doesn’t answer the question and is generally substanceless from an academic standpoint is where the points should be deducted from.
A zero is probably too harsh. I would grade it as a fail, but give the student extra time to submit a revised version. Using the professor’s grading scale, that would be a 5 for #1 (she did read the article and her reaction to it had some tie-in to the subject material, it was just insufficient), a 0 for #2 (She avoided summarizing, but failed to provide a “thoughful reaction or response”, as most of her writing was merely dismissive and not constructive) and a 5 for #3 (It was clearly written, I’ll give her that much). So 10 points out of 25 total, or 40%, which is a fail.
I think this student would be happier in seminary school, not university.
She wouldn’t be happier in seminary school, she’d be happier as a right-wing influencer. That’s what this is all about. Her mom is a lawyer that defended people involved with the January 6th insurrection. She had contacted right-wing media before she appealed the grade with the University.
She’s not smart enough to write above a fifth grade level but she’s smart enough to get in on the grift. This is getting her name out there and this will not be the last we hear from this woman.
Edit: Ask yourself what a “devout Christian” that only believes in two genders was even doing taking a gender studies course in the first place? It was all planned.
I don’t think it was about quoting bible as much as it was about not answering the question ngl.
Also never quoted the Bible, just stayed their interpretation of it without referencing any specific scripture.
Also, no internal citations in the text, that’s an instant zero on any college level essay.
Getting a professor fired for having your essay flunked for quoting the bible in a science essay. We’ve been too tolerant on christian dogmas.
She didn’t even quote the Bible, just asserted that her interpretation is the right one without mentioning a single verse.
She doesn’t need to quote the bible, these people don’t need to correctly interpret anything, just use it as an argument they can twist to spread their backwards ideas. And whe have been allowing this.
If there is something we have learned this last decade is: The christo-fascist don’t need to quote the bible to use as an instrument of hate. They can interpret the bible however they want; Use religious doctrine as a political argument with this free interpretation and use they monetary power to infiltrate government. I am not against people having their belifes. I am against these beliefs infiltrating education and politics.
A Christian dogma is to not prosecute other people.
God didn’t made women “beauty” (like she says) because God is beauty.
I think the Issue is that christian dogma is being used widely to persecute people, and infiltrate circles of power. Civilized countries have secular government and education for a reason!
Her paper would have been perfectly appropriate, if she was taking a Bible studies course. Definitely not appropriate for a psychology course though, unless faith was included in the topic of the article she was asked to read.
Still then a problem as a Bible studies. Just vague expression of their belief without citing the Bible.
It wouldn’t’ve even passed a bible studies course because she didn’t even quote the bible.
I’m not surprised if the professor got fired even though i agree with them. I’ve had friends that were from OK and they talked about how religiously dogmatic that state and the colleges were. I know my one friend had to get the ACLU involved for discrimination he received for his sexuality from the university he attended. -I’m more surprised the professor was ever hired in the first place.
I used to teach community college sociology. Even as a reaction paper, that is not college level work. I would have given the student one redo.
Man, God must have weak ass plans if only a few trans people can undo it.
This is why graduate student and teaching assistant unions exist. I’d dare this student to contest a zero on a paper that is flatout plagiarism.
It wasn’t until I read the grade that I realized this was for a psychology class. Her brain is unrecoverable.
who do I contact to inquire about hopping to a new timeline? additionally, how much should I be expecting to pay for such a service?
I want out of this one :(
First of all, the term “reaction paper” is quite vague to me. I understand it’s a thing now to “react” to content, facts, but the verb, to react, implies very little critical thinking. I think this is one of those concepts brought by the content creator trend to enhance the amount of engagement and earnings by producing derivative and lazy content.
Being said that, yes. If you attend a scientific class, you can’t argue based on your personal beliefs only. Religious, biblical truths don’t have any special weight here. It’s quite shocking that this can happen at a university level, and that’s why I’m absolutely opposed to non-secular education in general. Religion and education must always be separated.
We had “reaction papers” when I went to college in the early 2000s, too. It’s usually a weekly or daily assignment in a semi-online course to write a summary and reaction (or, to use a different word, response) to an article or paper. You’d then be expected to comment (critique) on one or two other responses posted by other students in the course. It was a way to encourage critical discussion and thinking on topics.
A “reaction” isn’t necessarily a brain rot veil for copyright infringement.
No academic sources
Use of first person throughout
Academic writing conventions not present
More a reflection than reaction
Sorry but unless this is a foundation student they’re getting a 35%.
The prompt specifically requested a personal reaction.
A personal reaction in an academic style is analytic in nature and rarely autobiographical. It links the content to the literature shaping one’s views.
The brief also specified it as critical, which at undergrad levels means exploring literature views and synthesizing rather than just vomiting a stream of consciousness unrelated to the course content.
The irony is, if she had gotten a 35% that would have been the end of it. This whole thing blew up because she got a 0. That’s why I feel like 0’s should never be given on an assignment unless literally nothing was turned in. A 0 comes off as personal; even in cases like this where the person absolutely deserves to fail, it casts doubt on the impartiality of the grader.
But giving a 35%? Well that’s different. That’s acknowledging the person attempted the assignment, they just did a pathetically shit job at it. In some ways, it’s more humiliating than a 0, because the grader at least tried to give you some credit, but is still highlighting how fucking stupid you are.
Hell, based on the quality of writing she is probably used to scores like 35%.
I got a zero on a paper my freshman year of college, for not citing sources in my writing. I learned from that mistake and did better for the rest of my academic career.
She’s a junior, she should know that by now.
I’m a very generous marker, generally I look for any merit and credit where I can within the scheme.
A 0 is a very strong statement saying “you produced nothing of value”, and it’s very very rare to hand out. In the case of a deduction, normally you tell them their grade pre-penalty to at least signal what was worthwhile with the aim of helping the student grow.
I agreed with you for a few minutes; but now I think that the 0 is the correct score based on the instructions.
Initially, I read what she wrote and came to the conclusion that she should probably get at least 3 points out of the available 5 points to the question, “is the paper clearly written?” It is. It’s insane to try to refute that. She should get at least something here. If clarity is the only qualifier, sure, let’s give her a 5.
“Does the paper show a clear tie in to the article?”
Eh… it knows what the article is about at least, so maybe 1 point.
“Does the paper show a thoughtful response…”
No, not really… but there are words here, so maybe 1 point again.
She’s at a 7/25, so, 28%. The problem for her was this part…
I will deduct 10 points if your paper is between 620 and 649 words
630 words means 10 points are deducted. If there’s only 7 available… well, that’s how you get a 0%.
The girl is a dumber than a sack of rocks, how did she ever get out of school?
She will probably get an honorary Doctor Of MAGA from Trump Looniversity.
Our new Director of Gender Enforcement
No child left behind.
The Bible is never a valid source for anything. It is literally a book of fiction. It would be like using a Stephen King book as a source.
I remember a student in class threw a fit about not being able to cite the Bible as a source. She showed the professor a website demonstrating how to cite the Bible in APA format as “proof” that the Bible can in fact be cited.
True. But the problem wasn’t that she used the bible as a source, the problem is that she didn’t answer the question at all, and used the bible as a source to describe her own beliefs. Beliefs she’s entitled to have, as the professor’s comment pointed out, but you can’t ignore the question of the assignment and use it as a platform to share your beliefs and expect to get a passing grade. If she wanted to use the assignment as a protest, she should be proud to get an F as a form of martyrdom, but as the Jesus pointed out, she opted to receive her worldly reward instead of a heavenly one (not that she would, but for argument’s sake).
Her writing style, the quality of her submission, and the fact that TPUSA shared this publicly and think it shows them in the right as they continue to attack the professor who graded this garbage submission very gentle is a symptom of the complete lack of education these people are exposed to.
She didn’t even use the Bible as a source - did not mention a single verse. She basically using herself as the sole source because there are 0 citations.
Even if it wasn’t, it’s still a secondary source at most throughout.
Why does she look 40?
Just wait 'til the MAGA glowup!
