Some female college athletes in Montana are raising eyebrows after they were apparently offered up to $2,400 to support the reelection campaign of a Democratic senator who previously voted to allow men to participate in women's sports.
Lily Meskers, a junior at the University of Montana majoring in journalism and competing on the women's track and field team, Reported the news last week.
“Where are you advocating for us? Where are you advocating for us as female athletes?”
Meskers claimed he and all other student-athletes at the University of Michigan received an email forwarded to them by Executive Associate Athletic Director Gene Gee. The original email reportedly came from Montana Together, a group working to re-elect Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.
Meskers said the emails offered to pay student-athletes between $400 and $2,400 in exchange for posting up to four unscripted videos promoting Tester on Instagram Reels.
The offer was apparently pitched as a name, image and likeness deal (often abbreviated as NIL) and was addressed to “athletes attending college in Montana who are interested in spreading the word about Senator Jon Tester and causes they care about.”
“Let's work together to inform our audience about Senator Tester's accomplishments during his time in office and encourage him to maintain his support for these important policies,” the email said. New York Post.
Meskers said she and several other female athletes were surprised when they were asked to promote Democratic senators who voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, introduced by Republican senator from Alabama and former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville.
Meskers called Tester's vote against the bill “a direct blow to women's sports.”
“Honestly, I think myself and a lot of the girls on the team had a very similar reaction to this,” Meskers explained.Montana talks to Aaron Flint“Why would we support something that is so fundamentally against us? As female athletes, it's really frustrating to work so hard to be a Division I athlete and then have that position taken away from us, biological males.”
“Are you supporting us? Are you defending us as female athletes?” Meskers asked, referring to Tester.
Katie Whitehurst, another member of the University of Michigan women's track and field team, was similarly frowned upon by the offer. “I believe that biological females should have a fair chance to compete in women's sports. This offer seems to me to be purely political,” Whitehurst said, as reported by Meskers.
University of Michigan athletic director Kent Haslam defended the forwarded email, arguing that recipients had the option to consider or ignore the offers.
“When the athletic department receives a general NIL request like this, it is our practice to forward it to all student-athletes unless the requester is looking for a specific player or team,” Haslam's statement read in part.
Haslam also claimed the email was sent via Opendorse, a company that facilitates NIL opportunities. “The athletics department sent this opportunity to all athletes in case any of them were interested,” his statement added. “The athletes… [Opendorse] For more information, please click here.
Tester, 68, is currently in a tough reelection race against Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, 37, a Navy SEAL veteran who has the backing of former President Donald Trump. Montana is one of the most Republican-leaning states in the country, so Tester is Moderate.
Meskers doesn't believe that.
“Tester has been described as a moderate, but this vote against protecting women's and girls' sports is not a moderate vote,” Meskers argued. “I'm sure the majority of Montanans would agree with this. You know, this is not a moderate vote.”
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