OU student claims bad grade is an attack on her faith

[Ms. Toad]

21. This is (should be) a private matter between the student and the professor.

Reviewing the assignment and the essay (both available at the link) as well as at least a basic rubric, the graduate grader needs better training. The appeal should be to the professor, who ought to be able to regrade the assignment and correct the graduate student. Getting external agencies involved - certainly to the extent that it winds up in a national publication is ridiculous.

Over-the-top reaction aside, while the essay wasn't stellar (even without considering viewpoint), it was responsive to the assignment - which was a reaction assignment, not a research assignment.

You must write a 650 words (body of text), double-spaced reaction paper demonstrating that you read the assigned article and includes a thoughtful reaction to the material presented in the article

GRADING: Reaction papers are graded on a 25-point scale, and are evaluated based on teh following:
1. Does the paper show a clear tie-in to the assigned article (10 points)
2. Does the paper present a thoughtful reaction or response to the article, rather than a summary? (10 points)
3. Is the paper clearly written? (5 points)

"The graduate assistant grader gave the essay a zero, noting that it “contradicts itself,” “heavily uses personal ideology over empirical evidence,” and contains passages that are “offensive.”"

None of these bear any relationship to the grading criteria, aside from potentially being unclear because it contradicts itself (although I didn't actually see much internal contradiction). A reaction may well include personal ideology - and personal ideology may be offensive to others. Certainly, empirical evidence is not required in a reaction paper, the goal of which is to demonstrate the student read the assigned article.