University of Cincinnati administrators reprimanded professor Melanie Nipper earlier this month for violating the free speech of a student when she gave her a zero on an assignment, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Student Olivia Krolczyk released a viral TikTok video discussing how she was given zero points for a section of her project for using the term “biological women” in her Gender in Popular Culture course, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Krolczyk submitted a Freedom of Speech claim with the school which resulted in Ashley Currier, head of the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at UC, issuing the reprimand to Nipper on June 14, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. (RELATED: ‘Unacceptable’: Gender Studies Professor Defends Giving Student A Zero Grade For Use Of ‘Biological Women’)
“This is unacceptable based on the community, the marginalized individuals that are at stake, and also the foundations of the course,” Nipper said about the terminology.
Nipper has been formally reprimanded and will have to complete training about the university’s free speech policy and submit her syllabi for the coming school year to her department head, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The document will be on the professor’s permanent records. Nipper filed an appeal request and attended an on-campus meeting to discuss the outcome, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
@oliviakrolczykEmailed her and was told using the term is transphobic 😐 be for real♬ original sound – oliviakrolczyk
In her TikTok, Krolczyk said her topic was about transgender people competing with biological women in women’s sports.
“I just know this is the most biased thing ever,” Krolczyk said via her TikTok from May 21, “How am I supposed to do my final project if I can’t use the word biological women, but that’s what my project is about.”
Nipper, Krolczyk and the University of Cincinnati did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment,
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