NEW YORK POST – A University of Cincinnati women’s gender studies professor has been ordered to complete free speech training after she failed a student for referring to non-trans female athletes as “biological women,” according to a report.
Adjunct instructor Melanie Nipper was formally reprimanded for giving student Olivia Krolczyk zero out of 20 points on her Women’s Gender Studies in Pop Culture final project for using what the teacher called the “exclusionary” term, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Krolczyk took to TikTok in May to share her outrage and confusion in a video that went viral, prompting a response from the university weeks later.
The university told Nipper, according to the June 14 document obtained by the Enquirer:
“Please note that this is to be considered 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 violations of UC policy may be subject to further disciplinary actions up to and including termination.
“You are reminded that as an unrepresented, unclassified ‘at will’ employee your employment may be terminated with or without cause.”
In addition to completing training about UC’s free speech policy, she must also submit her future syllabi for the upcoming school year for approval.
In contesting the discipline, she wrote that her “restriction on harmful speech” was “necessary to ensure a safe learning environment in the course discussions and for the pedagogical purpose of teaching introductory WGSS theory,” the newspaper reported.
The professor added that she “felt it was necessary to educate her regarding inclusive language to ensure a safe learning environment for other students in the course discussion boards … ”
