The Columbia University fencing team was invited to the White House for its third co-ed fencing title in five years won last March and its 16th overall as a program .
Fencers confront White House on gender issues in letterFour members of the Columbia team signed the two-page letter written to Trump, which the Washington Post published in full here. It reads, in part: We ask that you recognize the harms to gender equality within the actions of your administration — be they by appointment, by policy, or even by your own language.
Story continuesTeam wants to make noise with visit rather than skipMany athletes have chosen to skip the White House visit, whether as a collective or as an individual. Earlier this month Washington Nationals’ Sean Doolittle declined to attend due to “divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country.”
“There is this larger conversation over whether athletes should have political views or use their platforms in political ways, but if we are being recognized for our success, we need to stand up for the things that allowed us to have that success in the first place,” Gout said. “We have a responsibility to fight for the values that led us to become national champions. In my opinion, the values that allowed us to win are not valued by this administration.
Trump has been seemingly even less inclined to invite women’s teams to the White House. The Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA chose to celebrate their championship with a community service day in Washington, D.C., after never getting an invite. LeBron James called it “laughable at this point” and Trump did not extend an invite to the Seattle Storm nor the Washington Mystics.
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