All players on the women’s basketball team at Vancouver Island University (VIU) are refusing to travel to Columbia Bible College (CBC) this weekend for two away games, saying the venue is unsafe for trans athletes.
In a letter written by team captain Mackenzie Hall, which is signed by every single member of the team, the squad blasted the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) and VIU.
“It’s been over 10 weeks since our teammate was targeted and subjected to hateful treatment by Columbia Bible College’s coach and injured by one of her players,” the letter says. “CBC’s coach made clear over those two days that she doesn’t believe that trans athletes should be allowed to play in our league.”
Players say league has “done nothing” to address human rights compliant
Following a series of games against Columbia Bible College in October, VIU forward Harriette Mackenzie spoke out publicly saying that the college’s coach, Taylor Clagett, told her coach that Harriette shouldn’t be allowed to play due to her being transgender. She said Clagett applauded when Harriette was “chucked to the ground” by an opposing player in a game the following day.
The athletes accused VIU of being “silent” since the incident and said PACWEST “had done nothing” to address a human rights complaint made about CBC and its coach.
“By doing nothing, by saying nothing, by issuing no suspensions or sanctions your message is clear: you think what happened was OK. We need you to know that we are not OK with what happened,” the letter said.
The student athletes make five demands of PACWEST in the letter: making a decision on Harriette’s complaint about the Columbia Bible College coach and issuing a suspension for misconduct, requiring the college to have a zero tolerance policy for hate and discrimination, moving the provincial championships from Columbia Bible College to another venue, not requiring the team to play at the college until it is safe for them and making a public statement in support of queer and trans athletes.
On a social media post, Harriette wrote that she “couldn’t ask for better teammates.”
Players and VIU asks league to not penalize team for skipping weekend games
The players also ask the league to not penalize the team with a loss for not playing the away game at Columbia Bible College this weekend. In response, Vancouver Island University released a statement saying it has formally requested an exemption without penalty to the regular season games against Columbia Bible College that are scheduled to be played this weekend.
The games are currently listed as being “postponed” on the PACWEST website.
The team is currently at the top of the PACWEST standings, with 11 wins and one loss.
A statement signed by VIU’s associate vice president of student affairs Irlanda Gonzalez-Price and associate vice president of diversity, equity and human rights David Paterson said the university “stands in full support of our student athletes and affirms the right of all athletes to compete in an environment that prioritizes their safety and well-being.”
The VIU statement said “we trust PACWEST to uphold its principles and prioritize the safety and inclusion of all participants in collegiate sports. We believe this is a shared responsibility and call on PACWEST to fulfill its role in advancing this effort.”
Team captain Mackenzie Hall wrote, “we want nothing more than to play the game we love this weekend, but this has become much bigger than basketball,” on her social media account.
In a statement released on Wednesday, PACWEST wrote that as it is “involved in an ongoing investigation, comments cannot be provided in order to protect the integrity and procedural fairness of this investigation.”
The league said it follows the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s policy on trangender student athletes, that it is “dedicated to providing all student athletes with the opportunity to freely participate in competition” and that intimidation or harassment of student athletes will not be tolerated. The statement makes no mention of the request to not penalize the VIU team for missing games against Columbia Bible College or moving the PACWEST championship to another venue.
“Adults in power chose to not put themselves in uncomfortable positions to keep themselves safe at the expense of athletes and that is why nothing happened here,” Chloe Scaber, who retired from the VIU women’s basketball team last year, wrote on social media. “As long as you keep doing nothing, the message will be that we are on our own, that the rainbows in your windows are a joke and the hour-long inclusion orientation that you make athletes complete each year is strictly performative.”
A statement sent to The Discourse from Columbia Bible College said that it was surprised to hear from VIU that the team would not be playing the games this weekend as it had been working on developing a safety plan for those games with VIU, which included hiring extra security.
“Accusations that CBC, its coaches, players and fans are a safety threat are simply untrue and misinformed,” the college said.
