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FIRST ON FOX: USA Fencing is looking to the future and expanding its footprint at the college level, after a year riddled with controversy and lawsuits over trans athletes in women’s competitions and the replacement of its board chair.
In October, former chair Damien Lehfeldt declined to seek re-election, and in a statement announcing the decision, he wrote, “I didn’t sign up to spend my nights and weekends dealing with lawsuits, death threats and distractions.” Paralympic medalist Dr. Scott Rodgers was elected the organization’s new chair, becoming the first active athlete and first parafencer to lead the board.
“USA Fencing remains deeply committed to earning and maintaining the trust of our athletes, fans, and the wider fencing community. The election of Dr. Scott Rodgers as Board Chair reflects our dedication to athlete-centered governance and the continued growth of fencing at every level,” the organization said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“We recognize the challenges of the past several months and are focused on moving forward with integrity, transparency, and a clear vision for the future.”
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Maia Mei Weintraub (USA) competes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games. ( Katie Goodale-USA Today Sports)
USA Fencing will be growing the sport at the NCAA level, announcing that Arcadia University in Pennsylvania and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey will be adding men’s and women’s fencing teams to its varsity sports, beginning in fall 2027.
“In a year when parts of college athletics have contracted, adding roster spots in fencing is a win for access, community and the collegiate model,” Brad Suchorski, USA Fencing’s director of membership, service and growth, said in an announcement of the Arcadia expansion.
The governing body is also partnering with educational software company Rosetta Stone, which specializes in courses to help its users learn other languages, which will be available to its athletes at a discounted rate for assistance in learning foreign languages for travel to international competitions.
US OLYMPIAN AND OTHER FENCERS FILE CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST USA FENCING FOR ALLEGED TRANS ATHLETE INCIDENT
USA Fencing will look to close out 2025 on a high note after multiple trans athlete controversies resulted in public backlash, two lawsuits and a congressional hearing.
In April, women’s fencer Stephanie Turner drew attention to the organization’s policies that allow biological males to compete in women’s competitions when she posted footage of her kneeling in protest of a trans opponent. Turner was disqualified and escorted out of the event, as the footage went viral and prompted criticism from President Donald Trump’s administration.
The incident prompted a federal subpoena for Lehfeldt to a congressional hearing to explain the organization’s policy on transgender athletes on May 7.
Then in June, former U.S. Olympic fencing coach and board member Andrey Geva and former Olympic fencer Abdel Salem sued Lehfeldt for allegedly making “false statements” at the hearing, and claimed that the transgender eligibility policy was causing athletes to unregister with USA Fencing.
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Lauren Scruggs (USA) competes against Alice Volpi (ITA) in the women’s foil team gold medal match during the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Katie Goodale-USA Today Sports)
In October, Olympic fencer Margherita Guzzi Vincenti, who represented the U.S. at the 2024 Paris Olympics, filed another lawsuit against USA Fencing, alleging that multiple biological male trans athletes competed against women and girls at the North American Cup in Kansas City in January, without the female competitors knowing about the trans athletes’ birth sex.
USA Fencing was one of the first U.S. sports governing bodies to update its gender eligibility policy to only allow biological females to compete in the women’s category after the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) changed its athlete safety policy to ensure compliance with Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.
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