In a TikTok video that has gone viral, a college student shared her experience of receiving a zero grade on a project proposal. The student, referred to as Olivia, withheld her last name, school name, and professor’s identity. However, she displayed a screenshot of the grade and the professor’s explanation in the video, which has already amassed an astonishing 1.5 million views since its publication two days ago.
@oliveourviews Emailed her and was told using the term is transphobic 😐 be for real
♬ original sound – oliveourviews
The professor commended Olivia’s proposal, stating, “This is a strong proposal, Olivia.” However, the professor deemed the use of the term “biological women” as discriminatory and reinforcing “heteronormativity,” and therefore gave the project a zero grade. Olivia found the grading decision to be biased, considering that her project focused on transgender participation in biological women’s sports. She questioned how she could complete her research without being allowed to use the term that was central to her topic.
Olivia created additional videos to address the issue and provide further clarification. In her first follow-up video, she explained that according to her professor, using the term “biological women” was considered transphobic and “implementing T.E.R.F. ideology, which is trans-exclusionary radical feminism.”
Another video revealed that Olivia opted to bring the matter to her school’s Office for Equal Opportunity instead of waiting until the course concluded. She also read from the course syllabus, which stated that students would not be graded based on their opinions unless they caused emotional or mental harm to their classmates or espoused bigoted or anti-scientific views. Olivia argued that her statement regarding sex being determined at birth was scientific and that her professor was the one being anti-scientific.
In a more extended video, Olivia mentioned that her professor suggested she revise her project to focus on women’s rights instead of females. Olivia responded:
“I know what she’s trying to say, but it doesn’t work because for my project, if I change the wording, it would be … ‘women’s rights and opportunities are being affected because women are competing in women’s sports.’ That doesn’t make sense.”
She further revealed her plan to meet with the Title IX office on Wednesday. Although Olivia couldn’t be immediately reached for comment, the Young America’s Foundation expressed its commitment to assisting her by providing legal support and resources.
