Small: Debacle at OU underscores higher ed’s flaws

Debacle at OU underscores higher ed’s flaws

By Jonathan Small

University of Oklahoma officials recently announced a graduate assistant was “arbitrary” in flunking a student for stating there are only two sexes.

Still, the incident highlights the degree to which a college education is becoming a joke.

OU students were asked to read an article about gender-nonconforming children and write a short essay in response.

Samantha Fulnecky wrote that she “strongly” disagreed with the idea that “encouraging acceptance of diverse gender expressions could improve students’ confidence,” calling it a “lie that there are multiple genders.”

Course instructor Mel Curth gave Fulnecky a zero, declaring it a “fact” that “every” major medical association “acknowledges that, biologically and psychologically, sex and gender is neither binary nor fixed.” In short, Fulnecky was expected to deny reality to get an A.

Small: Time for leadership at OU

Time for leadership at OU

By Jonathan Small

Oklahoma faces workforce challenges. Our college system should play a crucial role in addressing that challenge and fueling economic growth.

Instead, the University of Oklahoma is receiving national attention for devolving into academic self-parody.

Rather than gain renown for producing engineers and scientists, OU is under scrutiny for having a man who identifies as a woman teach students about psychology. And that instructor is under fire for alleged religious discrimination against a Christian student who believes, accurately, that there are only two sexes.

OK Freedom Caucus: OU’s war on Faith and Free Speech must end – or funding will

Oklahoma Freedom Caucus: OU’s War on Faith and Free Speech Must End – Or Funding Will

OKLAHOMA CITY – The University of Oklahoma has once again proven that radical woke ideology continues to control its campus. Last week, psychology junior Samantha Fulnecky received a zero on an assignment for citing the Bible while defending traditional gender roles. Her instructor branded the reference “highly offensive” and punished her for holding Christian beliefs. 

This is only the latest outrage. These events mirror prior Freedom Caucus warnings about OU's descent into radical activism. The university's leftist culture enables the destruction of conservative materials, fosters an unsafe environment for patriotic students, and prioritizes ideological conformity over education—turning campuses into echo chambers where conservative ideas are not debated but demolished. All while university leadership issues weak statements, refuses to meet with Conservative students, and imposes no serious discipline.

Small: Higher education has an extremist problem

Higher education has an extremist problem

By Jonathan Small

The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has shoved uncomfortable truths into the light. Among them is that the fringe-left views aggressively promoted on college campuses have morphed into an active embrace of assassination culture.

Anecdotal evidence abounds as many college students and faculty have publicly cheered Kirk’s murder. Sadly, those statements are not uncommon. Instead, polling consistently shows such views are concentrated among young Americans who have embraced far-left ideology.

Recent polling by YouGov found 24 percent of individuals who self-describe as “very liberal” say it is acceptable to be happy about a public figure’s death, compared to only 3 percent of those who self-describe as “very conservative.”

OCPA urges regents to end discredited training for teachers

OCPA urges regents to end discredited training for teachers

OKLAHOMA CITY (June 19, 2025)—Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small today called on Oklahoma’s college regents to end the use or promotion of teacher-training programs that rely on the discredited “three-cueing” method, which teaches children to guess words based on associated pictures rather than sound them out phonetically.

The three-cueing method has been criticized for years as research has shown it does not help children become literate, and in 2024 Oklahoma law was updated to explicitly prohibit the use of three-cueing instruction in state public schools. Many other states have also banned three-cueing.

Small: No need for college tuition increases

No need for college tuition increases

By Jonathan Small

This year, legislators provided more than $1 billion in appropriations to Oklahoma colleges and universities. That negates any need for tuition increases. The question is whether university leaders will admit it (which, as of this writing, is NOT happening at the University of Oklahoma).

Unfortunately, college leaders don’t have a good track record of prioritizing affordability.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of college tuition/fees increased nationally by 1,518 percent from 1977 to 2024, which is close to twice the rate of inflation.

Op-ed: Oklahoma must stop forcing students into DEI Classes

Oklahoma Must Stop Forcing Students into DEI Classes 

By Timothy K. Minella 

 

President Donald Trump has demolished federal subsidies for radical “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) programming. But until state lawmakers in Oklahoma act as well, students will still be forced to take courses intended to indoctrinate them in the poisonous ideology behind DEI.  

Oklahoma’s public universities are not immune from the destructive effects of DEI. In December 2023, Governor Kevin Stitt issued an executive order prohibiting discriminatory DEI programs at public universities in Oklahoma. President Trump’s recent executive orders targeted these discriminatory practices at the federal level. But despite these welcome actions, DEI still maintains a strong and toxic presence in Oklahoma’s universities through course requirements that force students into politicized DEI courses simply to obtain a degree. 

Small: Oklahoma not immune to campus radicalism

Oklahoma not immune to campus radicalism

By Jonathan Small

The nationwide rash of campus radicalism, particularly anti-Semitism, has been disturbing. Even more disturbing is the fact that it is appearing in Oklahoma.

Eyal Yakoby, an incoming Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student who self-describes as being “dedicated to combating Jew-Hate and anti-Americanism,” highlighted an email distributed to students at Oklahoma State University that touted Students for Justice in Palestine (SPJ) events.

“The official diversity committee at Oklahoma State University’s psychology department sent an email soliciting students to participate in the ‘Week of Rage’ sponsored by SJP,” Yakoby wrote. “The first event is on Oct. 7th to celebrate the massacre. This is systemic antisemitism.”

Small: OU should end race-based discrimination

OU should end race-based discrimination

By Jonathan Small

In its 2023 opinion in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-based admissions processes for college violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The court bluntly stated, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

Small: Budget plans includes worthwhile items

Budget plans includes worthwhile items

By Jonathan Small

The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Senate have both unveiled their state budget plans for the pending fiscal year. Each side has included goals that merit praise.

The House budget plan includes a quarter-point reduction in the state’s personal income tax, which would reduce our top rate from 4.75 percent to 4.5 percent. Because the personal income tax is a penalty on work and investment, the tax depresses economic growth. The lower the rate, the better the job creation and opportunity for all Oklahomans. While the best rate would be zero, any move in that direction is welcome.

Small: OU assignment putting the 'boom' in 'Boomer Sooner'?

Putting the ‘boom’ in ‘Boomer Sooner’?

By Jonathan Small

Harvard Law School has drawn strong criticism for hosting a movie screening of “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” based on the book of the same name by Andreas Malm, which advocates terrorism as a tool of environmental policy.

Notably, the movie’s website includes a “Take Action” page that includes a map of U.S. oil and gas pipelines.

But Harvard is not the only university where this nonsense has been given a platform.

At the University of Oklahoma, a graduate English seminar on “Forms of Protest” includes “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” among the assigned reading.

Associate Professor James Zeigler says most assignments are documents advocating for political change and nearly all class readings “are devoted to non-violence in principle and as a matter of strategy.” Andreas Malm’s book, he said, “is an exception.”

Pinnell: Higher education builds tomorrow's workforce today

HIGHER EDUCATION BUILDS TOMORROW'S WORKFORCE TODAY

By Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell

Last Month, I embarked on an Oklahoma Workforce Tour, where I’m crisscrossing the state to talk all things workforce with business owners and local leaders. One topic that regularly comes up is Oklahoma’s higher education system and the integral role it plays in workforce development.  

Our public higher education system is crucial in meeting Oklahoma’s workforce goals. Data from the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development shows that by 2030, over half of Oklahoma’s 100 critical occupations will require at least an associate degree.

State Senate Republicans announce Education priorities for '24 session

Senate Republicans Announce Education Priorities

OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 31st) – Members of the Oklahoma Senate Education Committee today laid out their education initiatives for the upcoming regular session that begins Monday. [listen to a recording here]

Chairman of the Senate Education committee, Sen. Adam Pugh, R-Edmond, was joined by fellow members Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond and Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore to lay out a robust plan that includes additional teacher pay raises, advanced reading criteria, initiatives to get more teachers into the classroom and reforms to higher education.

OCPA calls for state investigation of OU student fee use

OCPA calls for state investigation of OU student fee use

OKLAHOMA CITY (January 10, 2024) — Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs President Jonathan Small today called on state lawmakers to launch an investigation into the University of Oklahoma’s use of mandatory student fees following a recent report indicating student fees were wasted placing women’s menstrual products in men’s bathrooms on campus.

Small: 'Land acknowledgements' a farce

Land acknowledgements a farce

By Jonathan Small

In the performance-over-substance world of the political left, “land acknowledgements” have become a ritual at many public meetings. Those acknowledgements, which note the land on which an event takes place was once controlled by various Native American tribes, are a farce. Otherwise, those spouting the acknowledgement would do more than talk.

But they don’t—including at many Oklahoma locations.

Small: Free speech double standard at colleges

Free speech double standard at colleges

By Jonathan Small

The leaders of three major universities recently became free-speech absolutists – when it comes to defending anti-Semitic calls for genocide at student rallies. But if you “misgender” a man wearing women’s clothes, look out.

The ever-shifting standards of college presidents when it comes to free-speech protections is one reason U.S. citizens have an increasingly negative view of a college education. A July poll by Gallup found that just 36% of Americans have confidence in higher education with only 17% expressing a “great deal” of confidence, and a March poll by The Wall Street Journal found 56% of American say the cost of a four-year degree is not worth it.

Sen. Standridge files legislation to stop harmful DEI practices in Oklahoma universities and colleges

In related news, Gov. Stitt made moves yesterday to likewise attack DEI programs.

Sen. Standridge files legislation to stop harmful DEI practices in Oklahoma universities and colleges

OKLAHOMA CITY – In the wake of Senator Standridge’s Interim Study on October 18, looking at DEI practices in our universities and colleges, Standridge has filed four pieces of legislation to adopt laws that will stop this discriminatory process. At the study, Standridge (R-Norman) hosted guests from the Heritage Foundation, Goldwater Institute, and OCPA, along with other experts that showed how DEI is destroying our institutions of higher learning and harming many college students and faculty along the way.

According to Sen. Standridge, DEI should be called by its more appropriate name, Discriminate, Exclude and Indoctrinate.

"Defund Discrimination": Gov. Stitt takes hatchet to taxpayer-funded DEI programs

Good for Gov. Stitt:

GOVERNOR STITT SIGNS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION EXECUTIVE ORDER, TAKES AIM AT DEI MEASURES

OKLAHOMA CITY (December 13, 2023) - Today, Governor Kevin Stitt signed Executive Order 2023-31, implementing greater protections for Oklahomans and their tax dollars against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

“In Oklahoma, we’re going to encourage equal opportunity, rather than promising equal outcomes,” said Governor Stitt. “Encouraging our workforce, economy, and education systems to flourish means shifting focus away from exclusivity and discrimination, and toward opportunity and merit. We’re taking politics out of education and focusing on preparing students for the workforce.”

Small: Oklahoma colleges’ DEI mandates violate free speech

Oklahoma colleges’ DEI mandates violate free speech

By Jonathan Small

The Arizona Board of Regents recently announced that public universities in that state will no longer require “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) statements from job applicants.

Oklahoma colleges and universities should do the same.

OCPA column: OU gets national attention — the wrong kind

OU gets national attention—the wrong kind

By Jonathan Small

The University of Oklahoma recently made national news—for the wrong reasons.

An investigation by The Wall Street Journal found that some of the United States’ best-known public universities “have been on an unfettered spending spree” with the bill “passed” on to students—and OU was identified as one of the worst offenders.

Between 2002 and 2022, the Journal found enrollment at OU increased 15 percent, but tuition increased by 36 percent even after adjusting for inflation. And, once student fees were included, the combined rate of growth was even more dramatic.