Cowgirls voted on volleyball match against transgender player, but forfeit decision came from above, records show - WyoFile

The University of Wyoming women’s volleyball team voted on whether to play against a rival team with a transgender player, but the decision to forfeit the contest ultimately came from above the athletes, newly released school records show.

The documents indicate the team, along with university officials, received intense outside pressure to cancel the Oct. 5 game against San Jose State University following the decision by two other schools to forfeit their matches in apparent protest over the inclusion of Blaire Fleming, a transgender athlete, on the Spartans’ roster. 

The records also show UW Athletics Director Tom Burman had concerns about the appropriateness of Fleming’s inclusion on the team prior to the forfeit decision, while also acknowledging “our student-athletes felt safe in the previous matches” against Fleming and the Spartans. Public calls for the match’s cancellation had cited safety among their chief concerns.

UW announced the forfeit on Oct. 1 in a brief email that did not offer an explanation other than to say the decision came after a “lengthy discussion.” In the aftermath, WyoFile and other media outlets filed public records requests seeking emails and texts tied to the decision. The university released those documents late Friday afternoon, shortly before the start of a three-day holiday weekend.

One document in particular offered new details. On Oct. 2, the day after the university’s announcement, Assistant Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Becky Baker emailed a document to Head Coach Kaylee Nicole Prigge briefing her on what had transpired so far that week. Prigge, other documents indicate, was away at the time.

On Sept. 30, Burman, along with Deputy Director of Athletics Matt Whisenant and Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations Taylor Stuemky met the team to discuss the upcoming San Jose match, according to Baker’s description. The previous week, UW officials said the match against San Jose would take place. But then, conservative state lawmakers and some members of the public pressured the school to reconsider.

At the meeting, the players were asked to vote anonymously. In her briefing to the head coach, Baker wrote that Whisenant told her the next day the vote was 9-9, with one person abstaining.

“He then told me we won’t be playing,” Baker’s document states. “I asked him and Taylor very specifically to make this about the people up top and the political pressure essentially taking the decision away from us.”

Whisenant and Stuemky told the team that same day — Oct. 1 — that the Cowgirls would forfeit the match against the Spartans. Someone — the name is blacked out in the document — asked Whisenant if the team’s vote was the reason for the forfeit, “and he said that their vote was valued but that in the end it went above us,” Baker’s document states.

The team practiced afterward, but was “out of sorts,” the document added. 

“Don’t think it’s going to go over well though that Tom’s quote is essentially that we chose this,” Baker wrote, after noting earlier that the decision was made by others. “I imagine several girls are going to find me because they are pissed.”

Changing course

By the time of debate, the Cowgirls had already twice competed against Fleming and her Spartan teammates. In 2022, the schools played two matches involving Fleming without controversy, records show. A university spokesman did not provide an answer when asked by WyoFile last month why the Cowgirls changed course and no longer wanted to compete against San Jose State. It’s unclear whether UW was aware of Fleming’s gender identity at the time of the 2022 matches. Press reports on the subject only date from earlier this year.

On Sept. 14 of this year, the sports media website Outkick, which bills itself as “the antidote to the mainstream sports media that often serves an elite, left-leaning minority,” reported that Southern Utah canceled its match against San Jose State over Fleming’s participation. Boise State — which like San Jose and Wyoming is part of the Mountain West Conference — followed suit.

Pressure began building on the Cowgirls to also forfeit, though UW initially decided to still play, according to a Sept. 27 email that university spokesman Chad Baldwin sent to Burman and UW President Ed Seidel. 

“At the moment … That is correct,” Burman responded the same day, according to a copy of his email. “Team returns from Utah Sunday and we will visit with them on Monday.”

By then, Burman and other university officials were fielding emails from members of the public who wanted the match canceled. The complaints focused on two main points. Critics maintained it was unfair for a transgender athlete to compete in women’s sports. They also argued that a transgender athlete, because of perceived physical advantages, posed a safety risk to other student-athletes.

Responding to one such email that day, Burman cited the 2022 contests against San Jose.

“I do think it is important to note, we have played against this athlete for the past two seasons and our student-athletes felt safe in the previous matches,” Burman wrote. “She is not the best or most dominant hitter on the Spartans team.

“Having said that it doesn’t make it ok,” he continued. “We have made our position known to the MWC [Mountain West Conference] and San Jose State that we think this is inappropriate, but she does meet all the NCAA standards for competition and is eligible.”

Not competing against San Jose would mean forfeiting two matches (the Oct. 5 match and one set for Nov. 14, which UW announced Friday it would also forfeit), Burman noted in his reply.

“And our student-athletes are not in favor of forfeiting two matches,” he wrote.

Outside pressure

The push to halt the matches came from the public, former collegiate athletes and politicians. One such email, made available as part of the public records request, came from a person who described themself as “a concerned citizen and multiple season ticket holder” and expressed concern for the student-athletes’ safety and well-being. 

“I’m asking you to forfeit the game against San Jose to keep YOUR athletes safe,” the person, whose name was redacted, wrote. “Nobody likes to lose (me probably more than most) but it’s the only responsible thing for you to do.”

The university was also fielding media requests, seeking information on whether the Cowgirls would follow the lead of Southern Utah and Boise State in canceling games. Additionally, state Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, a Lingle Republican who earlier in the year sought to defund UW’s gender studies courses, had begun circulating a letter to her legislative colleagues that pressured Seidel and Burman to forfeit the match. 

“The Legislature has been very clear that the University of Wyoming, being a publicly funded land grant institution, should not participate in the extremist agenda of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) or propagate the lie that biological sex can be changed,” Steinmetz wrote. “We all know it cannot.

“The Wyoming Citizens were very clear in the last election cycle in which they categorically rejected incumbents and candidates who supported policies promoting or failing to stop the ‘woke’ agenda,” she added.

The university announced its decision prior to Steinmetz’ letter being sent to the school, UW Vice President of Governmental Affairs and Community Engagement Mike Smith wrote in an Oct. 3 email to Baldwin. But word of the letter was getting around before that. A copy of the letter was obtained by WyoFile prior to the university’s announcement that it was canceling the match.

After forfeiting the match, UW received another string of emails from the public. The majority included in the public records release favored the forfeit. 

“I hope you realize what a big deal and positive impact your team is having by making this decision,” wrote one person from California who described themselves as a former collegiate volleyball player with a 10-year-old daughter. “I don’t know what kind of backlash you may receive, but please share with your players that young girls are watching, and praying, and they are grateful.”

But others criticized the university for buckling to political pressure and failing to support the campus’ LGBTQ+ community. 

“Up to this point, I was proud to tell people I’m from Wyoming but I can genuinely say that this is the most disappointed I’ve been in my State and University,” wrote one alumni. “UW’s choice to forfeit the match against San Jose State shows that the university cares more about making a ‘statement’ and villainizing an innocent college athlete than its own state pride as the ‘Equality State.’”

As of Monday, the Cowgirls were seventh in the Mountain West Conference. The Spartans were second, with a record buoyed, in part, by the forfeits.

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