Gay college athlete who was disowned by her family is in danger of losing her eligibility because her friends raised money to help her eat and pay bills
- Canisius College cross-country runner Emily Scheck was disowned by her family this summer after her mother learned that she was dating a woman.
- Scheck - who had $20 to her name when her parents forced her to choose between conversion therapy and their continued financial support - has struggled to find money for food, books, and tuition despite working two jobs just to make ends meet.
- In response to Scheck's dire situation, her friends set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $5,000 to cover some of those expenses, but within days they had brought in upwards of $25,000.
- Somebody at the school or the NCAA took notice and forced Scheck and her roommate to choose between continuing to compete on the cross-country team or keeping the money they had raised.
Canisius College cross-country runner Emily Scheck had only $20 to her name when she lost everything.
This summer, Scheck's mother learned that she was dating a woman and forced her to choose between attending conversion therapy - a pseudoscientific attempt at changing someone's sexual orientation that the APA firmly opposes - and losing her family forever.
The 19-year-old chose the latter, according to Outsports' Cyd Zeigler, who first reported on her story. Soon after she learned just how difficult it would be to survive without her parent's financial and emotional support.
"At the start it was definitely tough," Scheck told Zeigler. "I was lucky to be in preseason the first couple of weeks because coach could get us meals in the dining hall."
In addition to training and competing for a Division I athletic program, Scheck took on two different jobs to make ends meet. She still struggled, as she had no meal plan to rely on and had yet to buy books for the fall semester. She had been leaning heavily on her friends and girlfriend to help her get by when her roommate, Grace Hausladen came up with an idea.
Hausladen set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $5,000 to cover some of those expenses, but within days they had brought in upwards of $25,000.
Somebody at the school or the NCAA quickly took notice, and a Canisius College compliance officer forced Scheck to make a gruesome, life-altering decision for the second time in just a few months: forgo all of the money raised from the GoFundMe campaign or forgo her NCAA eligibility and her spot on the cross-country team.
The school offered to try to work with the NCAA to come up with an alternate solution, but without any guarantee, Scheck had little choice but to take the money and give up the sport she loved and the partial scholarship that came with her spot on the team. Hausladen, who had acted out of concern for her friend, was also forced to leave the team.
"After a review by the College's compliance staff, and following consultation with the NCAA, it was determined that the online crowdfunding webpage was organized and promoted in a manner not permitted under NCAA legislation," Canisius College spokesperson Matt Reitnour told Zeigler. "Canisius informed the student-athletes that it would be necessary to end the online fundraising effort and work with the website host to return the donations received in order to preserve the student-athlete's eligibility."
Scheck hopes to legally emancipate herself from her parents, but Hausladen has suspended any more donations from coming through the GoFundMe page while the NCAA reviews the situation.
A Change.org petition calling for the NCAA to restore their eligibility has already garnered hundreds of signatures, but Scheck and Hausladen have no choice but to sit idly by while the NCAA and President Mark Emmert deliberate whether or not they are truly "dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes."