The head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Oberlin College, a leftist Ohio-based private school, feels that she has been effectively driven out of her job after she voiced opposition to allowing biological males to compete against females in women’s sports.
Kim Russell, 56, says the environment at Oberlin has become so hostile that she’s uncomfortable showing up to work, National Review reported this week. She was previously demoted and targeted for her stance on transgender athletes, which was posted on a personal social media account.
“I have not gone into the office Monday or Tuesday, so my guess is they will be firing me shortly,” said Russell, who took time off Friday and has still not returned to work.
This summer, Russell made her treatment from Oberlin College public with a group called Independent Women’s Forum, outlining a series of disciplinary hearings and a bizarre team meeting where Russell was effectively made to listen to her own players shame her for her stance, and outline what they don’t like about her personally and professionally.
One of the players can be heard seemingly targeting Russell for her race, telling the coach she can’t just work to advance “white feminism.” Others suggested her views had an unacceptable “impact” on the school, which has a high “LGBTQ+ population.” Recalling the meeting, Russell said she felt “burned at the stake” and teared up as she expressed that she felt personally attacked “by these kids that I love.”
After Oberlin received attention for its treatment of Russell, the administration reportedly removed her from her coaching position and demoted her to “employee wellness project manager.”
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The school’s media relations department has said that Russell’s demotion is warranted for “her breach of trust rather than any views she has expressed,” National Review noted. Russell, feeling uneasy about the team meeting, secretly taped the event. Some of the recordings were included in the IWF’s video.
“This breach of trust — not her posts, feelings, or beliefs about trans athletes — is why she has been removed from her coaching duties,” the Oberlin spokeswoman said.
In response, Russell has highlighted what she describes as the college’s retaliatory treatment of her, prompting Russell to release the recordings.
“I’m at a loss anymore for what they’re doing,” she said of the college. “I’m not transphobic or transgressive or unsafe. This is about protecting women’s rights. This is about protecting women’s private spaces. I really don’t understand where the Me-Too movement is, what happened to it?”
Related: ‘Burned At The Stake’: Lax Coach At Uber-Liberal Oberlin College Targeted Over Trans Athlete Stance