This episode was made possible in part by RowSource, Barb, EB5 Investors, and our Patrons.

This is part three in a special series on gender identity policies in rowing.

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 at T.C. Williams High School 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

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 - The reality of lightweight rowing at the Naval Academy, and coach bumping him to the cox seat
31:50 - An unexpected early departure from the Naval Academy led to his first coaching job at T.C. Williams High School
33:50 - Coach Dee Campbell’s influence on Kevin, and the boathouse named for him
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

For a firsthand account of the experience of transgender scholastic and collegiate rowers, listen to our 2020 conversation with Cillian Mullen and Liam Miranda.

EPISODE Mentions

COACHES
Nancy Butt
Bebe Bryans
Dee Campbell
Ed Cannon
Rick Clothier
Malcolm Doldron
Mike Penn
Michael Porterfield
Rodney Pratt
🎧 Ann Strayer
Al Villaret

CLUBS
Capital Rowing Club
🎧 DC Strokes Rowing Club
Potomac Boat Club

EQUIPMENT
Mustang Survival Suit
Pocock Racing Shells

INFLUENCERS
Richard Butler
Arshay Cooper

ORGANIZATIONS
Black Coaches and Rowers Association
ICONS
NCAA
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee
USRowing

POLICIES
IOC Framework on Fairness, Inclusion, and Non-Discrimination
NCAA Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy
Title IX
USRowing Gender Identity policy(pdf)
World Rowing Statutes and Rules of Racing

REFEREES
Ardeth White

REGATTAS
Royal Canadian Henley
Henley Royal Regatta
Scholastic Nationals
Stonewall Regatta 
USRowing Youth Nationals

ROWERS
🎧 Dr. Mary O’Connor
Michelle Sechser

SCHOLASTIC PROGRAMS
Gonzaga College High School
T.C. Williams / Alexandria City High School
Yorktown High School

UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS
Mills College
Mount Holyoke College
United States Naval Academy
University of Tulsa

USROWING LEADERSHIP
Leslie Gross, DEI Co-chair
Nobu Ishizuka, President
Amanda Kraus, CEO
Kirsten Feldman, DEI Committee
Jenny Withycombe, DEI Co-chair

This episode was written, produced, hosted, and edited by Tara Morgan and Rachel Freedman. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.