ANALYSIS: One college backtracks, saying transgender athlete competed due to ‘misunderstanding’
Two private New York colleges still appear to be allowing male athletes to compete on their women’s teams despite policy changes and an executive order from President Donald Trump.
Renewed outrage over transgender sports players resurfaced last week when female fencer Stephanie Turner refused to compete against a male athlete, Redmond Sullivan, from Wagner College in Staten Island.
As a result, Turner received “a ‘black card,’ the most severe penalty in fencing,” OutKick reports.
Past records show Sullivan, who identifies as transgender, competed as a male in fencing competitions as recently as June 2023.
🤺🚨Historic Protest: Female Fencer Takes a Knee in Bout Against Male Opponent, Faces Immediate Disqualification
After receiving a black card for refusing to compete against a man, Redmond Sullivan’s female opponent was expelled from the @USAFencing event at the Univ. of… pic.twitter.com/IloSnrb2Iu
— ICONS (@icons_women) April 2, 2025
USA Fencing hosted the competition, which may be a factor.
Trump’s order and a resulting policy change from the National Collegiate Athletics Association apply to collegiate sports, but the fencing association does not fall under either. Its policy allows athletes to compete based on their “gender identity.”
Commenting on the policy, Turner told OutKick: “They have a very strange policy where you have to be living within your identity for a year before you register [in the women’s category]. But there are no claims about whether you have to be on any sort of hormone treatment or testosterone suppression at all. You just have to be living in this identity,” she said.
However, the policy does not explain why the college allows Sullivan to compete as a woman.
Barely a week earlier, women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines called out another private college where a male athlete is competing on the women’s team.
Gaines identified him as Tyler Gattone, who now goes by the name Juniper, of Ithaca College.
Wait a minute…I thought the NCAA had a new policy that was in full compliance with Trump’s EO?
Nope. Men are still competing in women’s NCAA sports. Meet Juniper (Tyler) Gattone.
The NCAA purposefully deceived the public and @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/TCIRoCDXOv
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 31, 2025
Fox News later confirmed it:
Ithaca College in New York admitted to letting a trans athlete compete in a Division III rowing competition over the weekend. The college allowed this despite the fact that the NCAA changed its gender eligibility policy back in February to prevent biological males from competing in women’s sports, in compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order addressing the issue.
The trans athlete competed in the Cayuga Duals on [March 29], but only in the third varsity eight event, which is not factored into NCAA championship qualification.
Ithaca provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying the participation of the trans athlete was due to a “misunderstanding” by the coaching staff about what was considered an official NCAA event, and referenced the policy’s allowing of male practice players.
“It is the intent of Ithaca College to comply with all NCAA rules. Under those rules, the student-athlete in question has the ability to be on the roster and participate in practices and open-gender competition. This past weekend, there was a misunderstanding by the coaching staff about what constituted an official NCAA event, because there is no third varsity rowing event at NCAA championships,” the statement read.
Gaines and other female athletes have criticized loopholes in the NCAA policy, saying it does not mention anything about males who identify as female staying out of women’s locker rooms, The College Fix reported previously.
Additionally, the policy requires a birth certificate as proof. However, most states allow a person to legally change their birth certificate to say female.
The Trump administration has been keeping a close eye on universities’ responses to the executive order, which prohibits federal funding to educational programs that allow male athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Among them, the administration recently threatened to cut off funding to the University of Maine and the University of Pennsylvania if they fail to comply.
The Maine public university responded by affirming its commitment to following the executive order, The Fix reported.
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: The Ithaca College rowing team includes a male athlete. Riley Gaines/X
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