Oberlin College ladies’s lacrosse head coach Kim Russell broke her silence about transgender inclusion in ladies’s sports activities in a documentary for the Unbiased Ladies’s Discussion board on Tuesday.
Russell, who grew to become the pinnacle coach of the Yeowomen earlier than the beginning of the 2019 season, talked about how directors and her gamers ridiculed her after she posted on her private social media account a message about Lia Thomas successful an NCAA Championship within the 500 in 2022.
Within the video, Russell reposted a headline sarcastically congratulating then-Virginia swim star Emma Weyant for the victory over Thomas, a transgender feminine. Russell wrote within the publish, “What do you consider? I can’t be quiet on this… I’ve spent my life taking part in sports activities, beginning & teaching sports activities packages for women & ladies..”
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![Photo shows person riding bike on Oberlin's campus](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/04/1200/675/Untitled-design-12.png?ve=1&tl=1)
This March 5, 2013 file picture exhibits a pupil using a bicycle on the campus of Oberlin School in Oberlin, Ohio. (AP Photograph/Tony Dejak)
The publish ignited a firestorm inside Oberlin School — a liberal arts faculty in Ohio. Russell mentioned she was referred to as in for a gathering with directors after the publish. They reprimanded her for the publish. She recorded the conversations, which had been heard within the IWF documentary.
Russell was advised, “Sadly, you fall right into a class of individuals which can be crammed with hate on the earth,” and “It’s acceptable to have your individual opinions, however after they go in opposition to your school’s beliefs, it’s an issue. To your employment.”
On the finish of the week, she was advised to write down an apology letter to the athletics division and the staff however couldn’t undergo with it.
“I’ll have a dialog with anybody who desires to have a dialog about this,” Russell says within the documentary. “I’m captivated with this. I actually consider that girls must be competing in opposition to different organic females.”
![Ohio sports teams, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/06/1200/675/ALL_CUSTOM_FS_LOCAL_NEWS_OH_SPORTS.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Oberlin School head coach Kim Russell spoke out within the IWF docuemntary.
She then had a gathering with the staff, the athletic director, the Title IX officer for her division and a Diversion, Equality and Inclusion officer together with the Title IX director and DEI officer for the faculty.
“Chairs had been arrange in an enormous circle. I felt like I used to be burned on the stake. I felt like I used to be stoned and hanged all on the similar time,” she recalled of the assembly with the staff, including that it felt like one other manner for others to take pictures at her teaching model alongside together with her opinion on the principle situation at hand.”
She mentioned her gamers’ feedback made her “unhappy.”
Oberlin completed the 2022 season 6-9. She mentioned on the finish of the season a letter was given to her that demanded she modified her “conduct.” She responded, saying if she’s breaking college coverage inform her what that’s and hearth her. She mentioned after that she felt like she was “strolling on eggshells.”
Russell got here again and completed 7-9 throughout the 2023 season.
![Women's lax sticks](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/08/1200/675/Womens-lax-sticks.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Kim Russell has been the coach at Oberlin School since 2019. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports activities Illustrated through Getty Photographs)
“Once I began, I assumed it will be the right place for me. Each time I’ve spoken up, I’ve been silenced, which, to me, is precisely the other I assumed Oberlin can be,” Russell says.
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Russell later added: “It’s scientific that, biologically, men and women are totally different. Interval. I don’t consider organic males must be in ladies’s locker rooms. The place’s the Me Too motion now? What occurred to that?”
Russell mentioned she’s prepared for the “storm” which will come her manner for talking out, together with the opportunity of getting hearth. In line with her profile on Oberlin’s athletics web site, she’s set to return in 2024.
Oberlin School didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
Riley Gaines, the “Gaines for Podcast” host who is among the chief leaders for equity in ladies’s sports activities, applauded Russell for talking out.
![Riley Gaines at CPAC](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/04/1200/675/Riley-Gaines-CPAC.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks throughout the basic session on the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, U.S., August 6, 2022. (REUTERS/Go Nakamura)
“That is actually actually enormous. The voice we have been lacking is that of coaches. Watch this to grasp why so many stay silent despite the fact that they know what they’re being advised to do is fallacious,” she wrote on X.
“Thanks for placing your identify to this, Coach Kim Russell.”
Andrea Mew, the IWF’s storytelling coordinator and documentary producer, mentioned in a information launch that Oberlin School’s remedy of Russell for “merely believing organic truths was nothing in need of a contemporary, Maoist battle session.”
“Russell’s story exposes what can occur when a college member dares to vary from the progressive norm,” Mew added. “At Unbiased Ladies’s Discussion board, we’ve elevated the voices of feminine athletes like Riley Gaines, Paula Scanlan, Payton McNabb, Kaitlynn and Abbigail Wheeler, Cynthia Monteleone, and extra to a nationwide stage.
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“However, to this date only a few school coaches have been courageous sufficient to talk out. It’s our hope that by sharing Russell’s story, extra coaches, educators, and different faculty college who assist ladies and ladies, the integrity of ladies’s sports activities, and feminine athletes’ equal athletic alternative will know that they’re not alone.”
Oberlin College ladies’s lacrosse head coach Kim Russell broke her silence about transgender inclusion in ladies’s sports activities in a documentary for the Unbiased Ladies’s Discussion board on Tuesday.
Russell, who grew to become the pinnacle coach of the Yeowomen earlier than the beginning of the 2019 season, talked about how directors and her gamers ridiculed her after she posted on her private social media account a message about Lia Thomas successful an NCAA Championship within the 500 in 2022.
Within the video, Russell reposted a headline sarcastically congratulating then-Virginia swim star Emma Weyant for the victory over Thomas, a transgender feminine. Russell wrote within the publish, “What do you consider? I can’t be quiet on this… I’ve spent my life taking part in sports activities, beginning & teaching sports activities packages for women & ladies..”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
![Photo shows person riding bike on Oberlin's campus](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/04/1200/675/Untitled-design-12.png?ve=1&tl=1)
This March 5, 2013 file picture exhibits a pupil using a bicycle on the campus of Oberlin School in Oberlin, Ohio. (AP Photograph/Tony Dejak)
The publish ignited a firestorm inside Oberlin School — a liberal arts faculty in Ohio. Russell mentioned she was referred to as in for a gathering with directors after the publish. They reprimanded her for the publish. She recorded the conversations, which had been heard within the IWF documentary.
Russell was advised, “Sadly, you fall right into a class of individuals which can be crammed with hate on the earth,” and “It’s acceptable to have your individual opinions, however after they go in opposition to your school’s beliefs, it’s an issue. To your employment.”
On the finish of the week, she was advised to write down an apology letter to the athletics division and the staff however couldn’t undergo with it.
“I’ll have a dialog with anybody who desires to have a dialog about this,” Russell says within the documentary. “I’m captivated with this. I actually consider that girls must be competing in opposition to different organic females.”
![Ohio sports teams, Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/06/1200/675/ALL_CUSTOM_FS_LOCAL_NEWS_OH_SPORTS.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Oberlin School head coach Kim Russell spoke out within the IWF docuemntary.
She then had a gathering with the staff, the athletic director, the Title IX officer for her division and a Diversion, Equality and Inclusion officer together with the Title IX director and DEI officer for the faculty.
“Chairs had been arrange in an enormous circle. I felt like I used to be burned on the stake. I felt like I used to be stoned and hanged all on the similar time,” she recalled of the assembly with the staff, including that it felt like one other manner for others to take pictures at her teaching model alongside together with her opinion on the principle situation at hand.”
She mentioned her gamers’ feedback made her “unhappy.”
Oberlin completed the 2022 season 6-9. She mentioned on the finish of the season a letter was given to her that demanded she modified her “conduct.” She responded, saying if she’s breaking college coverage inform her what that’s and hearth her. She mentioned after that she felt like she was “strolling on eggshells.”
Russell got here again and completed 7-9 throughout the 2023 season.
![Women's lax sticks](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/08/1200/675/Womens-lax-sticks.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Kim Russell has been the coach at Oberlin School since 2019. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports activities Illustrated through Getty Photographs)
“Once I began, I assumed it will be the right place for me. Each time I’ve spoken up, I’ve been silenced, which, to me, is precisely the other I assumed Oberlin can be,” Russell says.
RILEY GAINES FLOATS LEGAL ACTION AFTER STORY SPARKS ‘INFILTRATION OF PERSONAL THREATS TO MY SAFETY’
Russell later added: “It’s scientific that, biologically, men and women are totally different. Interval. I don’t consider organic males must be in ladies’s locker rooms. The place’s the Me Too motion now? What occurred to that?”
Russell mentioned she’s prepared for the “storm” which will come her manner for talking out, together with the opportunity of getting hearth. In line with her profile on Oberlin’s athletics web site, she’s set to return in 2024.
Oberlin School didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark.
Riley Gaines, the “Gaines for Podcast” host who is among the chief leaders for equity in ladies’s sports activities, applauded Russell for talking out.
![Riley Gaines at CPAC](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/04/1200/675/Riley-Gaines-CPAC.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
SEC champion swimmer Riley Gaines speaks throughout the basic session on the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, U.S., August 6, 2022. (REUTERS/Go Nakamura)
“That is actually actually enormous. The voice we have been lacking is that of coaches. Watch this to grasp why so many stay silent despite the fact that they know what they’re being advised to do is fallacious,” she wrote on X.
“Thanks for placing your identify to this, Coach Kim Russell.”
Andrea Mew, the IWF’s storytelling coordinator and documentary producer, mentioned in a information launch that Oberlin School’s remedy of Russell for “merely believing organic truths was nothing in need of a contemporary, Maoist battle session.”
“Russell’s story exposes what can occur when a college member dares to vary from the progressive norm,” Mew added. “At Unbiased Ladies’s Discussion board, we’ve elevated the voices of feminine athletes like Riley Gaines, Paula Scanlan, Payton McNabb, Kaitlynn and Abbigail Wheeler, Cynthia Monteleone, and extra to a nationwide stage.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“However, to this date only a few school coaches have been courageous sufficient to talk out. It’s our hope that by sharing Russell’s story, extra coaches, educators, and different faculty college who assist ladies and ladies, the integrity of ladies’s sports activities, and feminine athletes’ equal athletic alternative will know that they’re not alone.”