Georgia Tech President Blocks Riley Gaines For Asking Why He Didn't 'Protect' Her

Published|Updated

As OutKick reported last week, Riley Gaines delivered a powerful speech during a Special Committee on Protecting Women's Sports in front of the Georgia General Assembly. 

Gaines elected to use her time to read a letter that she wrote to the president of Georgia Tech, Angel Cabrera.

The reason that Gaines wanted to address Cabrera, and the Georgia Tech administration, is because they hosted the 2022 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. 

That's when Gaines, and all the other female swimmers, were forced to compete against and change in a locker room with Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer formerly known as Will Thomas.

Gaines wanted to deliver her letter to Cabrera personally, and was told that he was going to show up at the Special Committee, but backed out when he learned that Gaines and other female swimmers were going to be there. 

Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera (right) blocked Riley Gaines (left) on social media after she delivered a speech asking why he didn't protect female athletes in 2022.

(Getty Images)

"There is one question that has come back to me over and over again over the last two years since I visited your campus as a 21-year-old college student in 2022: 'Why didn’t you protect me?'" Gaines began her speech. 

"There are images in my mind that I cannot erase. I wish that I could erase those images that, day after day, make me feel less safe as a woman. 

"They repeat in my mind late at night when I am alone, when I am walking a city street by myself at night, whenever I’m feeling vulnerable, those images come back and the same question comes back to my mind, 'Why didn’t you protect me?'

At the end of the letter, Gaines issued a call-to-action for Georgia Tech President Angel Cabrera. 

"Dr. Cabrera, if you want to redeem the past and protect women in college sports today, you can take a momentous step towards a more just future for women and for humanity," she said. 

"Thousands of women across this country and hundreds of girls who dream of swimming for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and, more broadly, who dream of competing in sports at all look forward to your response." 

Well, we have that response… sort of. 

OutKick reached out to Georgia Tech for comment on the speech delivered by Riley Gaines. They did not return requests for comment. 

In addition, Dr. Cabrera decided to BLOCK Gaines on X. 

This is really an unbelievable display of cowardice and lack of accountability by the president of a major American educational institution. 

Shame on Angel Cabrera and Georgia Tech. 

Tags
Written by

Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.