University of Cincinnati gender studies professor gave a ZERO grade for using the phrase “biological women”
University of Cincinnati gender studies professor, 28, who graded student ZERO for using the phrase “biological women,” is given a formal warning and ordered to undergo free speech training
The University of Cincinnati has formally reprimanded a gender studies professor who complained about a student using the term “biological woman,” and ordered the professor to take a free speech course.
Melanie Nipper, a 28-year-old adjunct professor of sexuality studies at the University of Cincinnati, objected to student Olivia Krolczyk’s use of the term in an essay on trans women in sports.
Nipper told her that “the terms ‘biological women’ exclude and are not allowed in this course because they further reinforce heteronormativity.
“Please review and edit your topic so that it focuses on women’s rights (not just ‘women’) and I will review it again.”
Krolczyk posted a TikTok on May 7 complaining about the incident. The clip has since been viewed more than a million times and has received national media attention: Krolczyk now has 10,000 Twitter followers and uses her social media accounts to campaign against trans women in sports and take a stand on LGBTQ issues. controversies.
On Thursday, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Nipper had been disciplined by the university.
Melanie Nipper, adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, has been chastised by the university after a student complained that he got a zero on one of her projects
Olivia Krolczyk said in May that she got a zero for her use of the term “biological women” in her Women’s Gender Studies in Pop Culture class
When a student uses “outdated terminology,” Nipper added to the zero mark (seen here with an accompanying explanation), she will always take the opportunity to correct those mistakes
She has been instructed to complete the course and submit her syllabi for the upcoming school year to her head of department.
The university document, obtained by the newspaper, reads: “Please note: This should be taken as a formal reprimand for your actions.
“A copy of this letter will be placed in your permanent records. It is also understood that any other violation of UC policies may be subject to further disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
“You are reminded that as an unrepresented, unclassified ‘arbitrary’ employee, your employment may be terminated with or without cause.”
The letter also demanded that “you must undergo training on the requirements of the Campus Free Speech Policy” and that she must submit “all syllabi” for review and approval “at least two weeks before the start of classes.”
Nipper defended her actions at the university.
Nipper remained defiant, insisting she was right to mark Krolczyk’s paper
Krolczyk has now become an activist and campaigns online on LGBTQ issues
She told them that “my restriction on harmful language” was “necessary to ensure a safe learning environment during the course discussions and for the pedagogical purpose of teaching introductory WGSS theory.”
She said she teaches from an “intersectional, 4th wave, and transnational feminist perspective,” and argued that the topic chosen by the student for her project was “inappropriate because it targeted trans women as a source of oppression for cis women in the sport’.
Nipper added, “I felt it necessary to educate her about inclusive language to ensure a safe learning environment for other students in the course discussion boards.”
Nipper had previously defended her name to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
She said her support for free speech ends when “you participate, intentionally or unintentionally, in some form of systemic harm,” including statements she considers transphobic or racist.
She said her assessment of Krolczyk’s paper was fair.
“Not a zero for the course, a zero for an assignment,” she explained.