A new volleyball game at the U.S. Air Force Academy required a student to cover up his shirt in support of keeping men from women’s sports.
First reported by Outkick, the incident occurred on Saturday, when 2002 class graduate John Kopecky attended the academy’s volleyball matchup against San Jose State University ( SJSU) while wearing a shirt that read,” Keep Women’s Sports Female”. As The Federalist recently reported, Blaire Fleming, a trans-identifying man, has been permitted to play on SJSU’s volleyball squad and compete against opposing female athletes in college games.
At least five undergraduate women’s tennis teams have given up playing against SJSU in protest of Fleming’s contribution.
The Air Force student claimed he was permitted to enter the game but was informed that he would be asked to leave if he removed the hoodie that covered the top in problem.
Kopecky is seen being confronted by college officials while watching the Air Force play against SJSU on film. The Air Force student was confronted by school administrators, who” told him to unbutton his sweater to reveal what he was wearing underneath.”
An unidentified male official told Kopecky he could n’t wear his” Keep Women’s Sports Female” shirt because the school viewed it as “political”. When asked by Kopecky to explain how the top is political, the national replied,” It’s clear … You know what it is. And there’s a purpose why you wore it today”.
Kopecky claimed that no one at the tennis team’s game ever said a syllable to him about it, despite the fact that he had wore the same top many times before. The standard again refrained to state how the top is “political,” accusing the Air Force student.
An unidentified female official interjected, telling Kopecky that he” can put ]his ] sweatshirt on or turn the shirt inside-out”.
” We’re trying to keep a comfortable and safe surroundings”, she said.
Kopecky asked the authorities if he could use the top to the college’s football game that morning, to which both leaders replied,” Yeah”. The adult official responded by saying they “know why” Kopecky chose to play tennis against a female opponent and that his decision to don such attire is “targeted.”
” I do n’t think I’m targeting anything”, Kopecky said. ” I’m coming here to a women’s sports event. No one uttered a word while I was wearing this top on Thursday night.
Kopecky noted a few other alterations to the traditional procedure at Air Force house tennis game, according to Outkick. He claimed that there was a symbol out there letting fans know they would never allow signs into the game at all. He even contended the class had a “big table” with regulations governing “fan conduct”.
” They brought out a big board with all these rules about fan conduct that may have been there in the past, but I’ve never seen it]displayed ] right at the door”, he said.  ,
According to reports, the Air Force Academy declined to respond to Outkick’s particular inquiries regarding the incident, whether the school checked attendees ‘ attire before entering the facility, or if symptoms were prohibited from the game. Otherwise, the club said,” Air Force Athletics takes required measures to provide a healthy atmosphere at all household athletic events for players, coaches, workers and fans”.
The incident is n’t the first in which the Air Force Academy has flirted with leftist politics, however.
According to a 2022 Fox News statement, the school has often forced recruits to have discriminatory DEI trainings. In a slide titled,” Diversity &, Inclusion: What it is, why we care, &, what we can do”, trainees are instructed to use phrases that “include all women” and avoid using phrases such as “mom”, “dad”, and” biracial”.
]READ: Report: The Military’s Obsession With DEI Politics Is Hampering Its Readiness ]
An academy student who worked for the school and wrote under a pseudonym detailed his experiences with the school’s “leftist ideologies” in the Washington Examiner last year. He specifically noted how” critical race theory and diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings ]are ] being forced upon us by academy leadership”, and that in doing so, the school has “divided the cadet wing from within, in a profession where unity is essential”.
” This training is disenfranchised and harmful to morale, according to the majority of cadets.” However, the academy continues to encourage the voices of cadets who support the training and support leftist ideology, the cadet wrote.
The Federalist staff writer Shawn Fleetwood graduated from the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood