Considering the pre reqs for the class, she is almost certainly not a freshmen.
My theory: student was ok with it, mom somehow found out and flipped out. Student lies saying she didn’t know and that it was a final ( which, according to the syllabus is an outright lie). Mom goes to media which of course is too lazy to fact check. Right wing media picks it up. Ends with trumped up blood pressure over a whole lot of nothing.