Women’s lacrosse coach at Oberlin College, Kim Russell, says she is being ‘burned at the stake’ for stance against transgender athletes after her super-woke players viciously turned on her

The head women’s lacrosse coach at Oberlin College in Ohio says she feels like she is being ‘burned at the stake’ for publicly speaking out against the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports.

For about a year now, Kim Russell has been at the center of an ongoing conflict with Oberlin’s administration after she posted her personal viewpoint on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas winning an NCAA championship in 2022.

At the time, Russell reposted a headline that facetiously congratulated NCAA silver medalist Emma Weyant for being the true winner of the championship, after she placed behind Thomas at the 2022 competition.

‘What do you believe? I can’t be quiet on this … I’ve spent my life playing sports, starting & coaching sports programs for girls & women …’ she wrote.

Her post sparked an internal controversy at Oberlin, prompting administrators to step in and lambast the coach.

In one conversation with administrators, which Russell recorded, Natalie Winkelfoos, the school’s associate vice president for athletics, said: ‘Unfortunately, you fall into the category of people that are kind of filled with hate in the world.’

Oberlin College head women’s lacrosse coach Kim Russell has documented the reaction of the hyper-progressive college to her position that only biological women should compete in women’s sports

Senior associate director of athletics Creg Jantz added: ‘It’s acceptable to have your own opinions, but when they go against Oberlin College’s beliefs, it’s a problem for your employment.’

In a short documentary released by the Independent Women’s Forum, Russell, who has been 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 saying, ‘A transwoman is a woman. How can you not think that?” she recounted.

‘I had prepared myself emotionally because I knew what was coming. I felt like I was burned at the stake. I felt like I was stoned and hanged all at the same time,’ she said.

Winkelfoos went on to tell Russell that she was being perceived 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 had gone over her head to the athletic department to report her social media post.

Later in the documentary, Russell said: ‘It is scientific that, biologically, males and females are different. Period. I don’t believe biological males should be in women’s locker rooms. Where’s the Me Too movement now? What happened to that?’

On Tuesday evening, Russell and her attorney, May Mailman, appeared on Fox host Laura Ingraham’s show to discuss the ongoing controversy.

Ingraham asked whether Russell had broken any school rules by speaking out about her beliefs.

‘None,’ said the coach. ‘There were no rules that I was breaking. I was speaking my belief, my opinion. When I took that to the college with a letter from my attorney, I said, ‘If I am breaking university policy, please tell me what that policy is. Please do so in writing. And if you’re going to fire me for breaking that policy, please do it now.’

Russell said she felt railroaded and ‘burned at the stake’ by college administrators who admonished her for voicing her position about women’s sports

May Mailman (center), a senior legal fellow for the Independent Women’s Law Center, said that not only did Russell’s actions not break any school rules, but the school actually specifically claims that it attempts to foster ‘an environment that is respectful of divergent viewpoints’

Russell spoke out about transgender swimmer Lia Thomas winning an NCAA championship, beating her biologically female competitors in a situation that the lacrosse coach feels is not right. Thomas (right) is pictured during a competition where she was awarded the winning trophy despite tying with her biologically female competitor Riley Gaines (right)

In a short documentary released by the Independent Women’s Forum, Russell, who has been head coach at Oberlin for six years now, said that during the meeting with Winkelfoos and Jantz she ‘felt like a little kid being yelled at and told I was wrong’

Mailman, a senior legal fellow for the Independent Women’s Law Center, told Ingraham that, in fact, the notoriously progressive school’s specific ‘missions and values’ say that the community fosters ‘an environment that is respectful of divergent viewpoints.’

Those are the type of students they claim they want to recruit, said Mailman.

Prior to the segment, the school gave Ingraham a statement partially defending its alleged commitment to free speech.

‘Freedom to express one’s views is a cornerstone of our democracy and is certainly important to our Oberlin College community,’ they said, adding, however, that when posting on social media, staff should ‘reflect upon any potentially negative posts and the impact they could have upon your ability to effectively perform the roles and responsibilities of your job.’

Following the post, Russell was asked to write an apology letter to the athletics department and her team, but she ultimately declined to do so.

‘I really believe that women should be competing against other biological females,’ she said in a short documentary from the Independent Women’s Forum.

Mailman said that the voices of coaches in the ongoing debate surrounding transgender athletes are extremely important and have so far been somewhat absent from the discourse.

‘We’ve heard from other coaches who want to be leaders for their teams,’ she said. ‘It is up to the adults. We can’t let the whole obligation for women rest on college kids. There have to be coaches that speak up and protect women.’

‘Oberlin has asked her not to attend certain events,’ Mailman said. ‘This would never happen to a men’s coach who stood up for male players.’

Russell told Ingraham that she is ‘in the middle of the storm right now,’ with the controversy and the college, but that filing a lawsuit is not entirely off the table.

Oberlin’s ongoing legal drama: Last year, a jury ruled that the liberal arts college owed the owners of a local bakery $36.5million after defaming the company and the owners by describing them as racist, after an incident in 2016 when the storeowner chased down three black students who had stolen from the business

Riley Gaines, a former Division I NCAA swimmer, who has competed against and tied 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 really huge. The voice we’ve been missing is that of coaches,’ Gaines wrote in response to the new documentary.

Oberlin is currently in the middle of another massive legal battle stemming from its woke policies and how they’ve impacted the community.

Last year, a jury ruled that the liberal arts college owed the owners of a local bakery $36.5million after defaming the company and the owners by describing them as racist, after an incident in 2016 when the storeowner chased down three black students who had stolen from the business.

The school at first attempted to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court, which announced it would not take up the case last summer.

The school is currently engaged in a legal battle with its insurance company, which is refusing to cover the multi-million dollar payment.