A former star Rye High School lacrosse player alleges in a lawsuit that Colgate University did not protect her and women’s lacrosse players from an abusive coach who belittled them, forced them to play through injury, and pushed some to attempt suicide, according to published reports.
The suit was filed by Amelia Cunningham, a 2020 RHS graduate and the daughter of Rye City Council Member Keith Cunningham, according to the published reports.
The New York Post reported:
At least 20 players quit Colgate women’s lacrosse in the five years that Kathy Taylor oversaw the team, and three were believed to have attempted suicide, the lawsuit alleges.
Cunningham, 23, received a 50 percent athletic scholarship to attend Colgate and play lacrosse, but playing for Taylor ruined her dream of becoming an orthopedic surgeon because of improperly treated injuries.
“Colgate knew the danger that Coach Taylor posed. Over and over again, students and parents sounded the alarm,” Cunningham said in the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
Cunningham alleged that she was forced to play through injuries and illness, and Taylor allegedly “abused her student athletes and treated injuries as moral failures.”
When Cunningham hurt her wrist during freshman year, the suit alleges, Taylor “discouraged” her from getting surgery.
“When Ms. Cunningham finally got surgery after her freshman year, it was too late: Her injury had become too significant to fully repair,” she said in the lawsuit.
She now struggles with pain and numbness in her wrist, and drops things unexpectedly — dashing her dream of becoming an orthopedic surgeon, Cunningham alleged.
Taylor allegedly forced Cunningham to play when she had bronchitis and Cunningham contracted the Epstein-Barr virus, which causes extreme fatigue and other symptoms as well post-obstructive reactive airway disease, which required an inhaler.
Cunningham later also was diagnosed with “major depressive disorder and trauma- and stressor-related disorder, in large part caused by stress that resulted from her experience on the lacrosse team,” she said in the lawsuit.
Cunningham, who ultimately had five surgeries for lacrosse-related injuries, attempted suicide in 2022, and survived.
Colgate conducted an “inadequate” investigation and cleared Taylor of any wrongdoing, according to the suit. Taylor resigned in 2024.
