University president takes stand against men in women's sports: 'Most Americans and most of the world know it to be wrong'
Wayne Lewis, president of Houghton University in upstate New York, called out men competing against women in athletic competitions in a recent statement.
Lewis' statement comes in response to a transgender-identifying man defeating a female Houghton runner and others in a 200-meter race.
In a relatively rare occurrence, the president of a Christian liberal arts college in upstate New York published a statement criticizing males competing in women’s sports.
“Biological males’ participation in women’s athletics is wrong,” Houghton University President Wayne Lewis wrote on March 4 in response to a man defeating other women competitors, including a Houghton student, in a recent track-and-field 200-meter race.
[RELATED: ‘A biblical fight’: Riley Gaines discusses her mission to save women’s sports]
“Most Americans and most of the world know it to be wrong,” Lewis stated.
“A fringe agenda under the guise of making school and collegiate athletics more inclusive for transgender people has grown to the place of now unfairly displacing gifted and hardworking female athletes, obliterating the historic achievements and records of female athletes of the past, and threatening to dismantle the opportunities and protections for girls and women in sport trailblazing leaders fought so hard to create and protect,” he continued.
The male runner, Sadie (Camden) Schreiner of the Rochester Institute of Technology, broke two women’s running records in January, as Campus Reform reported.
In his response, Lewis partly predicated his statement on a belief in God, but stated that his opposition to men in women’s sports is not a “Christian position,” but a “moral position.”
“Throughout human history and to the present, most of the world and most Americans have upheld the truth that men and women have important distinguishing characteristics,” Lewis wrote.
Lewis concluded his statement by advocating for a prohibition against the ongoing trend throughout women’s athletics.
“Enough is enough,” Lewis stated. “I will not sit by silently as a university president whose female student-athletes step weekly onto tracks, courts, and fields to compete but, in some cases, are forced to do so on playing fields we know to be unfair. I hope you will join me.”
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines rebuked Schreiner in wake of his victory in a women’s competition.
“Male runner, Sadie (Camden) Schreiner, is your new regional collegiate meet record holder in the women’s 200 meter dash,” Gaines posted to X on March 2. “So brave of him to continue breaking records by stomping on women done with a smile on his face.”
Male runner, Sadie (Camden) Schreiner, is your new regional collegiate meet record holder in the women’s 200 meter dash
So brave of him to continue breaking records by stomping on women done with a smile on his face🥹✨👏🏼 @RITtigers @RITathletics pic.twitter.com/8Vb1Cu1lm7— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 2, 2024
[RELATED: ‘A biblical fight’: Riley Gaines discusses her mission to save women’s sports]
Gaines also backed Lewis’ statement, praising the president for speaking directly to the defense of women’s sports.
“I was ecstatic to hear of a university president willing to publicly say what I’d bet 95 percent of society already agrees with,” Gaines said on her podcast. “It’s telling that we’ve reached a point where we outwardly applaud our leaders for saying something so simple like ‘men and women are different, and each sex is deserving of equal opportunity, privacy and safety.’”
Campus Reform has contacted Houghton University and the Rochester Institute of Technology for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
