Podcast Summary: IHIP News

Episode: MAGA Pushes Oklahoma University to Punish Trans Professor Over Bible-Based Essay Fail
Date: December 2, 2025
Hosts: Jennifer Welch & Angie “Pumps” Sullivan

Episode Overview

This episode tackles the recent controversy at the University of Oklahoma, where a student failed a psychology assignment for submitting a Bible-based, citation-free essay on gender—taught by a trans professor. The student, after failing, turned to Turning Point USA, sparking national uproar and resulting in the university placing the professor on administrative leave. With their signature blend of humor and pointed critique, Jennifer and Angie (joined by Ira and Kyle) explore how right-wing activism, Christian nationalism, and institutional cowardice intersect in red-state academia, and what this means for the future of higher education.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Oklahoma’s Political, Religious, and Educational Landscape

• Context: Oklahoma is described as deeply Republican and permeated by Christian nationalist ideology.
  • Ira (00:00): “…for almost 20 years now, they have had a Republican governor, Republican House, Republican Senate, Republican Supreme Court… the stupidity and ignorance trickles down from the governor who dedicated every square inch of the state to Jesus Christ.”
• Critique: The hosts argue that Oklahoma’s prevailing ideology produces anti-intellectualism and religious dogma, leading directly to issues like the current controversy.

2. The Assignment Incident: What Happened?

• Student Submission:
  • An OU psychology student wrote an essay about gender, referencing only her own biblical opinions with no citations, no scholarly support, nor definitions—resulting in an F.
  • Sample essay quote analyzed by the hosts:
    • "Women naturally want to do things because God has created us with those womanly desires in our hearts."
    • Ira paraphrasing (02:20): “A sentence like this is circular and literally means nothing.”
• Turning Point USA Involvement:
  • The student approached the conservative activist group, which amplified the incident as an issue of religious discrimination against a trans professor.

3. The Professor’s Response & Academic Standards

• Professor’s Feedback:
  • The professor explained the failure was due to lack of empirical support, contradiction of assignment guidelines, and over-reliance on personal belief—not because of religious views or identity.
  • Professor’s direct quote, as relayed by Ira (05:02):
    • “Please note that I am not deducting points because you have certain beliefs, but instead I'm 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…”

4. University Response & Institutional Failure

• OU's Statement:
  • Issued a formal review, undertook a grade appeal, “ensured no academic harm” to the student, and placed the professor on administrative leave pending investigation (07:08).
  • Ira’s Reaction (09:29):
    • “You just took any credibility that the University of Oklahoma has, Joe, and you wadded it up and you put it in the trash can.”
• Hosts' Perspective:
  • Frustration that the university chose appeasement over upholding standards or protecting faculty, especially vulnerable ones.

5. Right-Wing Playbook & Weaponization of ‘Religious Freedom’

• Turning Point USA’s Tactics:
  • Known for targeting progressive professors and inflaming campus controversies.
  • Ira (03:46): “Their whole thing… is to go onto college campuses and find professors that they believe are teaching facts and put them on a list and torture them.”
• Double Standard:
  • The hosts highlight that only “Christian freedom” is defended, not pluralistic religious freedom.
    • Kyle (17:08): “…if this was from Hinduism, Buddhism, we wouldn't be talking about this. Because Turning Point USA doesn't give a about religious freedom. They care about Christian freedom.”

6. Broader Cultural and Educational Consequences

• Mocking the Precedent:
  • Suggest all students submit assignments based on other religions and claim discrimination to expose the logical flaw.
    • Ira (12:22): “Go find Greek mythology, Satanism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and start writing everything based on those books… And then everybody claim religious discrimination.”
• Host’s Diagnosis:
  • The right’s focus on universities is due to fear of facts and non-religious frameworks.
  • Ira (15:11): “…facts have a liberal bias, period. The Bible and its conservatism and women being helpers and God making women out of a rib in the Garden of Eden—it did not happen. And you have to tell these kids the truth. You have to say, you can believe that, but you can't prove that.”

7. Underlying Motives: Sex, Control, and Evangelical Culture

• Interpretation:
  • The hosts critique evangelical Christian culture as primarily focused on sexual purity and control.
    • Ira (17:33): “White evangelical Christianity… seems to be focused on one thing. Controlling sex… It is her virginity that is the thing that they teach them. And that's why they're so wound up about the genitals of that professor.”

8. Call to Action & Critique of Institutional Cowardice

• University’s Responsibility:
  • Should protect academic integrity, empirical standards, and vulnerable faculty—failures damage both students and institutional credibility.
  • Ira (13:41): “You should stand with your trans professor. And whether she's trans or not is irrelevant. The professor was mindful, thoughtful, and actually provided this young girl with a, an assist to help her with everyday life… This is just such a mess by the University of Oklahoma…”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Oklahoma’s decline:
  • Ira (00:38): “The electorate gets dumber and dumber and dumber and you have a basic Christian nationalist state.”
• On the essay’s logic:
  • Ira (02:32): “Imagine going to Wikipedia to learn about cats, only for the cat behavior section to read ‘cats want to do cat things because God has created them with catly desires in their heart.’”
• On academic standards:
  • Kyle (03:24): “…in a scientific paper, if you don’t quote empirical sources, it’s just your opinion. And you would get flunked on that even if you used any other source, like the Quran or whatever it is…”
• Direct from the professor’s feedback:
  • Ira (quoting professor) (05:02): “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.”
• On OU’s response:
  • Ira (09:29): “You just took any credibility that the University of Oklahoma has, Joe, and you wadded it up and you put it in the trash can. With Liberty University.”
• On religious double standards:
  • Kyle (17:08): “…Turning Point USA doesn't give a about religious freedom. They care about Christian freedom.”
• On sex and evangelical culture:
  • Ira (17:33): “White Christian evangelicalism is a cult that has massive sexual damage, that wants to control the sex lives of everybody…”

Key Timestamps

• 00:00-02:20: Oklahoma’s political context and introduction to the student essay incident.
• 03:24-05:30: Analysis of the essay, professor’s feedback, and Turning Point USA’s involvement.
• 07:08-09:29: University of Oklahoma’s response and the hosts’ disappointment in institutional actions.
• 12:22-13:41: Broader implications, satirical suggestions, and calls for protest from students.
• 15:11-17:33: Analysis of why the right targets academia and the link to Christian nationalist ideology.
• 17:33-End: Reflection on the culture of sexual control, generational consequences, and final critiques.

Summary Tone & Final Thoughts

The episode is sharply critical, darkly comedic, and unfiltered—in true IHIP News style. The hosts combine outrage with sarcasm, placing responsibility not just on individuals but on systems—political, educational, and cultural. Their recurring motif: It is not only the student who needs better guidance, but the institution and society as a whole that need to defend reason, support vulnerable educators, and push back against manufactured outrage and religious overreach.

Call to action:
Hosts urge OU students and the public to see through the culture-war narrative, support empirical education, and demand universities back their faculty, not buckle to reactionary pressure.