Oberlin women’s lacrosse coach reassigned after criticizing transgender athletes

Oberlin College women’s lacrosse coach Kim Russell is vowing to continue speaking out against transgender athletes in female sports after being reassigned from her position.

The Ohio liberal arts school appointed Ms. Russell on Monday to the newly created position of employee wellness projects manager, barring her from future contact with students. The move came after two of her players complained that she used their voices in a video the conservative Independent Women’s Forum released on Aug. 29.

Widely disseminated online, the video documents how a player reported Ms. Russell to administrators for criticizing transgender participation in women’s sports in a March 2022 Instagram post. It includes audio she recorded at fractious meetings where administrators berated her in front of the team.

“I don’t believe I did anything wrong, and I think their reasoning for taking me out of coaching is a pattern where they let the students run the show,” Ms. Russell told The Washington Times.

“I understand they had a visceral response to hearing their voices on the video, and I understand why they feel betrayed, but they’re not able to see the bigger picture right now,” she added. “This is about protecting women’s spaces.”

In a statement emailed to The Times, Oberlin stressed that the reassignment of Ms. Russell “pertains to her breach of trust rather than any views she has expressed.”

“Russell posted about trans athletes on social media 18 months ago, in March 2022. She coached an entire season after that. But when she recorded her student-athletes without their knowledge or consent, then shared those recordings with the media, she violated their trust in an irreparable way,” the statement read.

Oberlin’s transgender inclusion policy allows male-to-female transgender athletes to participate on women’s teams after one year of testosterone suppression.

In the IWF video, Ms. Russell says school officials harangued, reprimanded and pressured her to apologize for the Instagram post, which she refused to do.

The message Ms. Russell reposted said: “Congratulations to Emma Weyant, the real woman who won the NCAA 500-yard freestyle event,” referring to the swimmer who placed second to transgender athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s swimming championships.

Ms. Russell said she is weighing whether to remain at Oberlin without being able to coach.

“That part makes me sad,” said Ms. Russell, who was entering her sixth season as head coach. “They know they can’t fire me, so they have to find something for me to do.”

Her battle with the Oberlin administration comes with international athletic associations increasingly moving to restrict transgender participation in women’s sports amid a pitched debate over fairness versus inclusion.

Ms. Russell, 56, played Division I women’s lacrosse at the College of William & Mary, where she earned all-region and all-conference honors. She previously coached at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio.

Polls show most U.S. voters oppose allowing male-born athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports based on gender identity, and yet Ms. Russell said she was told by Oberlin administrators that her views were beyond the pale.

In one of the recordings, a woman identified as Athletic Director Natalie Winkelfoos tells Russell: “Unfortunately, you fall into a category of people that are filled with hate in the world.”

At one point, a woman identified as a student says: “It’s not good enough just to work for, like, women’s issues or White feminism, you know. Your feminism has to be inclusive of everybody and work for everybody.”

According to Ms. Russell, her new role will not change her conviction that male-born athletes have clear strength, size and height advantages in girls’ and women’s sports.

And she has a message for her former players.

“Stand up for what you believe in, don’t be afraid to speak up against what you think is the majority, and be authentic,” Ms. Russell said.

• Valerie Richardson contributed to this report.