By Alexia Aston / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Samantha Fulnecky ‘s failing marks on her controversial essay will not count toward her final course grade, the University of Oklahoma student told The Oklahoma n.

The junior majoring in psychology said on Wednesday, Dec. 3, that the decision came after she filed a formal grade appeal . OU officials confirmed the results of that review, saying it was completed and “resulted in steps to ensure no academic harm to the student from the graded assignments.”

Fulnecky’s essay has been at the center of a growing national debate over the line between academic freedom and free speech .

She was asked in her psychology course to write an essay reacting to an article about how people are perceived based on societal expectati

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