Wagner College Appears To Have Removed Transgender Fencer From Website, Scrubbed All Mentions

Former Wagner College fencer Redmond Sullivan, a biological male who identifies as a woman, is no longer on the women's fencing team, OutKick has learned. It's unknown whether Sullivan left the team or whether the school removed the athlete. Though the school's statement, and actions, imply that the latter is more likely. 

"We are in full compliance with NCAA and NEC [Northeast Conference] rules and regulations," a Wagner College spokesperson told OutKick. "The fencer is not a member of our fencing team." 

UPDATE: While the school explicitly said "the fencer is not a member of the fencing team," another women's fencer at Wagner, Alex Cole, said in an Instagram comment that Sullivan "is actually still on the team just can't compete" due to the new NCAA policy. 

OutKick reached out to Wagner College to confirm or deny Cole's comment. A spokesperson said that Cole's comment is "inaccurate." 

Sullivan last fenced for the Wagner College women's team on December 1 at the Seahawk Invitational in Staten Island, NY. The fencer did not compete in any events in 2025, likely due to the impending executive order by Donald Trump and NCAA transgender policy change. 

Wagner College appears to have removed Redmond Sullivan, a biological male who identifies as a woman, from its women's fencing team to become compliant with the new NCAA transgender policy.

(Imagn Images)

It should be noted, though, that Wagner competed in the Philadelphia Invitational on January 19, two weeks before either the executive order or the NCAA policy change, and Sullivan did not compete in the event. 

Sullivan started as a member of the men's fencing team at Wagner in 2023, finishing last out of 34 fencers in the Garet Open hosted by Penn State in October. Sullivan finished the season 0-18 in bouts competing against men. To start 2024, though, Sullivan transitioned to the women's team. While statistics are difficult to come by, it appears Sullivan had far more success competing in the women's category than the men's category. 

In addition to Sullivan no longer competing on the team, it appears that Wagner College has scrubbed its athletics website of all mentions of Sullivan's past achievements. Event recaps, which are posted for every event, no longer exist for meets in which Sullivan participated. The recaps start again beginning in January, when Sullivan was no longer a member of the team. 

Past recaps that mentioned Sullivan, like the one posted after the Northeast Fencing Conference Varsity Meet in November 2023, take people to a "404 error" and say that the page "no longer exists." 

OutKick asked Wagner College if the website was scrubbed to remove references to Sullivan, but they did not respond to our request. The sad part is that in trying to eliminate Sullivan from the website, the school appears to have erased the female fencers' accomplishments from the meets in which Sullivan competed. 

Redmond Sullivan became the center of a USA Fencing controversy

Sullivan recently became a central figure in a controversy surrounding USA Fencing. Stephanie Turner, a female fencer, took a knee and forfeited a match against Sullivan rather than compete against the male athlete. 

Turner blasted USA Fencing for its incredibly lenient transgender policy, which essentially allows any male to say he is a woman and compete in the women's division. Since then, Senator Ted Cruz has opened an investigation into USA Fencing and threatened to remove their National Governing Body status if they don't become compliant with President Donald Trump's recent executive order, Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports. 

It appears as though Wagner College decided to take action rather than stand behind a male competing on its women's team. The new NCAA transgender policy, which was announced shortly after Trump signed the executive order, rules that any women's team that has a biological male is forbidden from competing in NCAA events. 

Sullivan competed on the men's fencing team at Wagner, but competed – and won – events in girls' track and field as a high school athlete. Sullivan also won the Connecticut Division Junior Olympic Qualifiers (a precursor tournament to the Junior Olympics) in the women's division in December. 

Despite the U.S. Government investigating USA Fencing, the organization has chosen to stick by its policy that favors "inclusion" over more important factors like "safety," "fairness," "biology," and "reality." 

OutKick reached out to USA Fencing for comment and a spokesperson pointed us to the statement that was previously released: 

"USA Fencing enacted our current transgender and non-binary athlete policy in 2023. The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces. The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day... USA Fencing will always err on the side of inclusion, and we’re committed to amending the policy as more relevant evidence-based research emerges, or as policy changes take effect in the wider Olympic & Paralympic movement." 

That means Sullivan can continue to fence against women in USA Fencing events, at least for now. But Sullivan is no longer fencing against women at the collegiate level. And on the Wagner College website, you would never know Sullivan ever did.