GENDER IDENTITY POLICIES: Part 3
Since December 2022, World Athletics, World Rowing, USRowing and other national governing bodies, have announced updated gender identity policies. In response, voices across the rowing community have stood up for "fairness for women" and alternatively "inclusion for marginalized athletes." We're taking a closer look.
Kevin Harris’s coaching career began in the early 1990s and culminated with 20+ years at the helm of the University of Tulsa women’s rowing program. Harris offers an in-depth and thought-provoking perspective on DEI, the importance of boathouses as welcoming spaces, the prevalence of transgender and non-binary rowers in the United States, and gender inclusion policies.
ICYMI: Gender Identity Policy Series Part 1 - Dr. Mary O’Connor: Fighting to Save Women’s Rowing Part 2 - Coach Anne Strayer on Inclusion and Self-Worth in Rowing
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QUICK LOOK
00:50 - Pre-interview banter with Tara and Rachel
04:30 - The Huddle, a discussion of Kevin’s early coaching career in D.C. and Virginia
05:30 - Hot Seat Q&A
08:20 - Starting out as a coach, Stonewall Regatta
10:35 - Experience at 2023 Youth Nationals with the USRowing Board of Directors, perspective on FL controversy as a Black man who grew up in the South
19:00 - Welcome mat at T.C. Williams High School when he learned to row
21:30 - The Harris family history in Alexandria, VA and why Kevin’s mom asked him why he wanted to get into a “white boy’s sport”
29:20 - Kevin’s reality as a lightweight hit him when he arrived at the Naval Academy, and then coach bumped him to the cox seat
31:50 - An unexpected early departure from the Naval Academy led him to his first coaching job at T.C. Williams
33:50 - History of Dee Campbell Boathouse in Alexandria, VA
36:10 - The development of USRowing’s DEI committee in 2020
45:00 - Intro to Gender Inclusion Policies and the ICONS petition
47:10 - Kevin’s inroads to coaching women’s programs
50:02 - Title IX, gender policies, the ICONS petition, and DEI from Kevin’s unique perspective as an NCAA coach and member of the USRowing Board.
1:00:00 - USRowing’s work to accommodate a huge variety of members
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To see photos of Kevin, and to get links to the people, clubs, policies, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website.
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This episode was made possible in part by RowSource, Barb, EB5 Investors, and our Patrons.
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