live at ou: faith v. curriculum

By: Emily Hill, December 8, 2025

The University of Oklahoma is getting a lot of attention right now because religious beliefs, class expectations, and campus rules are all bumping into each other. The situation started when a psychology student got a zero on an assignment after she quoted the Bible and argued, based on her Christian faith, that gender is only male and female and that believing in more than two genders is “demonic.”

The assignment asked students to respond to a research article about gender norms and social dynamics in teenagers. The grader, who is a graduate student instructor, said the student’s response did not work as an academic answer because it did not use evidence and it did not address the actual questions from the reading.

The student disagreed and said the grade was not about her writing or research at all. She filed a complaint saying she was being discriminated against for her religious beliefs.

After that, the university put the instructor on administrative leave and opened an investigation. School officials said the zero will not affect the student’s final grade, and they stressed that OU supports religious expression and free speech.

At the same time, research about religion is still happening across the university. Professors in fields like sociology are studying how religion shapes American life, faith communities, and social change.