Oberlin College lacrosse coach Kim Russell, who spoke out against trans athletes competing in female sports, is REMOVED from her role and given a paperwork job
The head women’s lacrosse coach at Oberlin College in Ohio — who spoke out against trans athletes like Lia Thomas competing in women’s sports — has been removed from her position and given an administrative job.
Kim Russell was at the center of an ongoing conflict with Oberlin officials after she posted her personal opinion about transgender swimmer Lia Thomas winning a 2022 NCAA championship last March.
She also appeared in a documentary about the issue.
Now she says she has been defamed by Oberlin bosses and moved to a paperwork position that prevents her from communicating with students.
Russell said on Fox that she was asked to take on a role as Employee Wellness Program manager
Russell shared a post giving her personal thoughts on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas winning an NCAA championship in March 2022
Emma Weyant came second after Thomas, who was born male but started transitioning as a teenager.
Her post sparked an internal controversy at Oberlin, a hyper-progressive school. She claims fellow faculty members told her she was “filled with hatred.”
Now, Russell says she has been asked to take on a new role that will move her away from working with students and into an administrative role.
Speak with Fox newsRussell said:I have been taken out of the role of coach, which I did for 27 years.
‘I have been asked to take on a role as Employee Wellness Program manager, where I would have no contact with students and bCreating things is paperwork.’
Russell also told Fox that she had recordings of individuals at school telling her that she was “filled with hatred” and that her opinions had caused problems for her work.
Russell spoke about transgender swimmer Lia Thomas winning an NCAA championship and beating her biologically female competitors in a situation the lacrosse coach says isn’t right. Thomas (left) is pictured at a match where she received the winning trophy despite drawing with her biological female competitor Riley Gaines (right)
Russell has documented the hyper-progressive college’s response to its position that only biological women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports
Creg Jantz, senior associate director of athletics, told Russell, “It is acceptable to have your own opinion, but if it conflicts with the beliefs of Oberlin College, it is an employment problem.”
Natalie Winkelfoos, vice president of athletics, also reportedly told Russell, “Unfortunately, you fall into the category of people who are somewhat filled with hatred in the world.”
Russell says she hasn’t spoken to either of them since the saga exploded.
“I did speak with the athletic director when she presented me with the new role they offered me.
“I was originally told all these things: that I belong to a hate group, that people call me transphobic, transgressive and unsafe.”
Russell said she felt burned at the stake by university administrators who admonished her for voicing her stance on women’s sports.
Last year, a jury found that the liberal arts college, pictured here, owed the owners of a local bakery $36.5 million after defaming the company and its owners by describing them as racist.
“My office was a place of comfort, a place where people could come and cry, be loved and receive support.
“I have just been overwhelmed by the continued increase of biological males playing in women’s and girls’ sports.
“I’m so passionate about this because the reason we have these opportunities to play and coach is because of the women who came before me, who fought for us to have these opportunities.
“I don’t think the younger generation understands that these opportunities weren’t there years ago.”
In a short documentary from the Independent Women’s Forum, Russell, who has been the head coach at Oberlin for six years, said that during the meeting she “felt like a little kid being yelled at and told I was wrong.”
“People say, ‘A trans woman is a woman. How can you not think that?'” she said.
‘I prepared myself emotionally because I knew what was coming. It felt like I was being burned at the stake. “It felt like I was getting stoned and hung at the same time,” she said.
Winkelfoos went on to tell Russell that she was seen as “transgressive, transphobic and unsafe.”
That “broke my heart because you love these kids like they’re your own,” Russell said of her players, one of whom went over her head to the athletic department to report her social media post.
Later in the documentary, Russell said, “It is scientific that men and women are biologically different. Period of time. I don’t believe biological males should be in women’s locker rooms. Where is the Me Too movement now? What happened to that?’
After the post, Russell was asked to write a letter of apology to the athletic department and her team, but she ultimately declined.
“I really believe that women have to compete with other biological women,” she said in a short documentary from the Independent Women’s Forum.
Former NCAA champion Riley Gaines has become a leading advocate for biological women in women’s sports. She praised Russell for sticking to her controversial views
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA Division I swimmer who has competed against and bonded with Lia Thomas, has become a leading advocate for fairness in women’s sports and praised Russell for maintaining her position under pressure.
‘This is really huge. The voice we have been missing is that of coaches,” Gaines wrote in response to the new documentary.
Oberlin is currently in the midst of another massive legal battle stemming from its woke policies and their impact on the community.
Last year, a jury found that the liberal arts college owed the owners of a local bakery $36.5 million after they defamed the company and its owners by describing them as racist following a 2016 incident when the store owner had three chased black students who had stolen the business.
The school initially tried to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court, which announced last summer that it would not hear the case.
The school is currently embroiled in a legal battle with its insurance company, which is refusing to cover the multi-million dollar payment.