Ithaca College is under scrutiny after a transgender athlete competed in a women’s rowing event last weekend, which the school now says was due to a “misunderstanding” of NCAA rules that were revised following President Trump’s executive order on women’s sports.
Juniper Gattone, a transgender sophomore, participated with Ithaca College’s women’s rowing team at the Cayuga Duals regatta on Saturday in New York. The competition marked the opening of the spring season.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) brought attention to Gattone’s participation, claiming the college was defying the president’s February 5 executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
“Men STILL competing in NCAA women’s sports!” ICONS posted on social media platform X on Monday. “Ithaca College women’s rowing defies President’s executive order by allowing sophomore male rower, Juniper (Tyler) Gattone, to compete in the women’s Cayuga Duals over the weekend.”
David Maley, Ithaca College’s director of communications, explained that the situation resulted from confusion among coaching staff.
“It is the intent of Ithaca College to comply with all NCAA rules,” Maley said in an email statement. “Under those rules, the student-athlete in question has the ability to be on the roster and participate in practices and open-gender competition.”
Maley continued: “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.”
According to the college’s team Instagram page, Gattone is a member of the women’s “3rd Varsity 8+” boat, which refers to the third-ranked varsity eight-oared vessel.
The college confirmed that Gattone, who has been participating in women’s rowing at the NCAA Division III school for nearly two years, would no longer compete on the women’s squad.
Marshi Smith, co-founder of ICONS, noted that Ithaca College also fields a men’s rowing team that competed in Saturday’s contest against Hamilton College and William Smith College.
“So men rowed on all their boats and also took a limited seat in a woman’s boat as well,” Smith said. “His [Gattone’s] boat didn’t race well today, but this marks a pivotal example of how the current NCAA policy is not barring men from competing on NCAA women’s teams.”
Critics of the NCAA’s approach have argued that the organization created a potential loophole by basing eligibility on birth certificate sex designations, as 44 states allow individuals to change the sex listed on these documents.
Women’s sports advocacy groups have called for the NCAA to implement cheek swab testing, a quick and painless procedure that detects the SRY gene, which is a marker for the male Y chromosome. The NCAA has not publicly addressed this suggestion.
Last week, World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, announced it will implement cheek swab testing for athletes competing in women’s events at elite international competitions.
