An excerpt from : Shortly after moving back onto campus in August, Emily Scheck saw that she had several text messages from her mom. A 19-year-old cross-country runner for Canisius College in Buffalo, the sophomore looked down in horror. She was getting disavowed by her mother for being a lesbian.
Her mother had found photos on social media of Scheck with the woman she is dating and was apoplectic. Scheck had not come out to her parents, as she feared they wouldn’t accept her sexual orientation, according to the Griffin, the Canisius student newspaper. As first reported by the LGBT sports website Outsports, Scheck was allegedly faced with an ultimatum from her family: Leave school, give up her partial scholarship and return home to Webster, N.Y., to go through therapy for her sexual orientation, or she would be cut out from their lives for good.
When she indicated to her parents that she was staying at Canisius and had no interest in therapy, her father drove 85 miles to drop off her belongings: clothing, stuffed animals, trophies and even her birth certificate. He reportedly dumped her things in her car and proceeded to remove the license plates from her vehicle. The family had already removed her from their car insurance plan, according to Outsports.
“Well, I am done with you,” Scheck’s mom texted her daughter, reported. “As of right now, declare yourself independent. You are on your own. Please don’t contact us or your siblings.”
Scheck needed to know: Why was this happening to her?
“Because you disgust me,” her mother allegedly replied.
With only $20 to her name, Scheck was desperate, working two part-time jobs while going to class and cross-country practice every day.
“I never would have guessed in a million years that this was something that was going to happen to me,” she told the News. “My roommates, they started crying. Me too.”
When a roommate launched a GoFundMe campaign this month to raise money for Scheck to eat, live and buy books for the semester, the fundraiser generated tens of thousands of dollars in days. As of early Monday, the campaign, which had an original goal of $5,000, had raised more than $58,000 since Nov. 7.
But the 19-year-old was faced with another ultimatum last week. This time, it was from the NCAA: Give back the online donations or keep the money and lose her eligibility for college athletics. She felt she had no choice but to give up her eligibility.
On Friday, the NCAA, which has long fought against active student-athletes receiving any outside financial contributions, relented, with a rare reversal in its position: Not only could Scheck keep the donations, but she could also maintain her eligibility.
Her mother had found photos on social media of Scheck with the woman she is dating and was apoplectic. Scheck had not come out to her parents, as she feared they wouldn’t accept her sexual orientation, according to the Griffin, the Canisius student newspaper. As first reported by the LGBT sports website Outsports, Scheck was allegedly faced with an ultimatum from her family: Leave school, give up her partial scholarship and return home to Webster, N.Y., to go through therapy for her sexual orientation, or she would be cut out from their lives for good.
When she indicated to her parents that she was staying at Canisius and had no interest in therapy, her father drove 85 miles to drop off her belongings: clothing, stuffed animals, trophies and even her birth certificate. He reportedly dumped her things in her car and proceeded to remove the license plates from her vehicle. The family had already removed her from their car insurance plan, according to Outsports.
“Well, I am done with you,” Scheck’s mom texted her daughter, reported. “As of right now, declare yourself independent. You are on your own. Please don’t contact us or your siblings.”
Scheck needed to know: Why was this happening to her?
“Because you disgust me,” her mother allegedly replied.
With only $20 to her name, Scheck was desperate, working two part-time jobs while going to class and cross-country practice every day.
“I never would have guessed in a million years that this was something that was going to happen to me,” she told the News. “My roommates, they started crying. Me too.”
When a roommate launched a GoFundMe campaign this month to raise money for Scheck to eat, live and buy books for the semester, the fundraiser generated tens of thousands of dollars in days. As of early Monday, the campaign, which had an original goal of $5,000, had raised more than $58,000 since Nov. 7.
But the 19-year-old was faced with another ultimatum last week. This time, it was from the NCAA: Give back the online donations or keep the money and lose her eligibility for college athletics. She felt she had no choice but to give up her eligibility.
On Friday, the NCAA, which has long fought against active student-athletes receiving any outside financial contributions, relented, with a rare reversal in its position: Not only could Scheck keep the donations, but she could also maintain her eligibility.
