Colgate women's lacrosse coach resigns; tenure marred by bullying allegations

Colgate University women’s lacrosse coach Kathy Taylor has resigned after a five-year tenure marked by allegations she bullied several players, made inappropriate comments about their weight and pushed them to play through injuries.

The announcement, following a 2024 season when the Raiders went 3-14, appeared on the school’s website Wednesday.

Taylor did not mention the allegations or the school investigation that followed, saying in a statement she chose to step down with two years left on her contract because “I feel now is the time for a change in the leadership of the women’s lacrosse program.”

"Colgate University and the Athletics Department are in good hands,” her statement added. “I am grateful for my time spent here. The team is in a great place to soar. The student-athletes are committed and hardworking, and they embody the oneness necessary to be successful. The culture is healthy with a positive mindset, and I look forward to watching this program chase championships in the future."

Taylor arrived in Hamilton in 2019 after leading LeMoyne to a 2018 Division II championship and SUNY Cortland to six NCAA tournament appearances. She was named president of the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. Before that, the onetime Cornell University standout won two New York State championships in 18 years at Fayetteville-Manlius High School.

But at Colgate, her teams struggled through several losing seasons.

In 2022, the university hired a Buffalo attorney to investigate allegations leveled by six players in a letter from the Manhattan law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel.

Taylor “bullied, manipulated and psychologically abused numerous players, with severe consequences to their physical and mental health,” the letter said.

Colgate's lacrosse turmoil 'Bullied, manipulated, psychologically abused:' Inside Colgate's women's lacrosse turmoil

Months later, in August 2022, Colgate’s then-athletic director Nicki Moore, said Taylor would keep her job but appointed several administrators to assist with the team.

Players were told they could leave the team and keep their athletic scholarships. Several took the offer, including some of the program’s top players.

An investigation by the USA Today Network published in March 2023 found 20 players left the team during Taylor’s tenure.

“Our team was so miserable,” former player Gracie Bowers told the USA Today Network last year. “There’s no way that you can look at this 200-page report on how poorly this woman is treating these girls and not do something about it.”

The school’s report on the team has never been released.

Colgate lacrosse and mental health A Colgate athlete sank into a dire mental health crisis. She says officials ignored her.

In March, Catie Lang, one of Taylor’s earliest recruits, said the coach and others in the school’s athletic department failed to act after she alerted them to players on the team struggling with their mental health.

Lang said she tried to take her own life in March 2022.

“I felt that these adults are the ones that are supposed to be there to help me,” Lang told the USA Today Network for a story published in March of this year. “If I was going to have a cry for help, I would think that they will be the ones to take it most seriously.”

Thomas C. Zambito is a reporter on The USA Today Network's New York State Team. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Kathy Taylor, controversial Colgate lacrosse coach, resigns