"You Will Regret It!" NCAA Swimmer Breaks Her Silence

you will regret it four simple words from the Penn Athletic  Department directing us not to speak out against   Leah Thomas Computing for the women's teams Thomas  wins my only regret is not speaking out sooner my   name is Paula Scanlon and I competed for the  University of Pennsylvania women's swim team growing up swimming was everything  I tried other sports I tried to   learn piano I even tried singing in  the choir swimming just made sense   starting when I was eight years old 20 hours a  week 50 weeks a year every minute I put in got   me closer to my goal of swimming division one my  dad mom and older brother drove me to countless   5am practices and Far Away swim meets countless  Christmas holidays cut short by training trips   there was nothing I would rather do than swim  swimming carried me through providing motivation   and purpose to each and every day many young girls  rely on this Foundation but now it is crumbling   sadly the NCAA is the main culprit in the erosion  of women's sports the NCAA created policies   that allow individuals with Y chromosome people  traditionally called men to compete against women   in the fall of 2021 I could openly discuss  this policy with Pierce as the season went   on however these conversations gradually led  to toxic divisions within the team teammates   called me transphobic and hateful but the worst  came from the University of Pennsylvania itself   first a warning the Penn Athletic Department  told us if anyone speaks out against League   of swimming you will regret it my natural  reaction to this chilling warning Was Fear   then they weaponize their student Psychological  Services offering to re-educate us saying Leah's   swimming is a non-negotiable and we are here  to offer services to make you okay with that   it was around this time that my initial fear began  quietly Brewing into a sense of purpose purpose to   speak up in defense of my teammates purpose to  speak in defense of myself purpose to tell the   truth eventually during my senior spring I decided  to write an op-ed for the campus newspaper the   daily Pennsylvanian a scientific evaluation on  the ncaa's guidelines for transgender athletes   I went through dozens of edits painstakingly  making sure every pronoun used was sensitive   to all individuals discussed on February 10  2022 the daily Pennsylvanian published my op-ed   then just a few hours later it was retracted no  notice to readers no notice to me just silence   censorship is now an endemic feature of American  Education from students to administrators debate   is no longer tolerated ultimately hen succeeded  the university and its apparatchics effectively   silenced me broke me and instilled fear in me I  had to choose between free speech and my future   career and unfortunately I chose my career the  damage against women's sports is a symptom of   an underlying disease the destruction of free  speech and meritocracy at the altar of equity and   inclusion I speak as both an American citizen and  as a Taiwanese citizen Taiwan is under imminent   threat from the Chinese Communist Party a regime  that courses its own people through censorship   Taiwan and the rest of the world still believe  in American exceptionalism how America protects   freedoms from many across the world fail this is  a high calling and we must live up to it Riley   Gaines has been the sole voice for Our Generation  a lone leader in the Battle of a lifetime   I kept waiting for others to join her but few have  so I have decided to join and support her as we   fight in this Arena together we have to fight for  Freedom here in America Above All Else regardless   of the labels in vitriol thrown at us hopefully  we can provide courage to each other to resist   institutions that censor us as we continue  to defend our rights join us the time is now

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Id: p3L-oY5l_so

Length: 5min 7sec (307 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 09 2023