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Former Oregon high school athletes Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard have reached a settlement with the state’s high school sports league, the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), in a lawsuit over free speech violations.
Anderson and Eckard left the podium at a state championship on the last day of May to protest a transgender competitor, and alleged they were forced to leave the podium photo and were not given their medals in response.
“I asked after the medal ceremony was over, we went into a sort of tunnel that takes you back to the audience, and I asked one of the officials, ‘Hey, are we going to get our medals?’ and she said they would be shipped to our school. And then they were never shipped to our school,” Anderson told PK Press Club Digital.
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The two teens filed a free speech lawsuit against OSAA in July and say their medals were then sent to their law firm, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Youlee Yim You denied OSAA’s motion to strike a portion of the lawsuit that highlighted forms of political speech permitted by the league, including Black Lives Matter and pro-LGBTQ pride messages, which were a key point in the plaintiffs’ argument.
On Tuesday, their lawyers at AFPI agreed with OSAA to dismiss the lawsuit by agreement of the parties. A separate lawsuit between the two parties for Title IX violations is still pending.
“Plaintiffs’ attorneys Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard certify that they have spoken by telephone in good faith with defendant OSAA’s counsel regarding this motion to dismiss. Defendant’s counsel has stated that defendant does not oppose this motion,” reads a court filing obtained by PK Press Club Digital.
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AFPI litigation director Andrew Zimmitti said the case accomplished its goal, raising awareness of the treatment of Anderson, Eckard and other Oregon students who express similar views.
“This case did exactly what it was supposed to do,” Zimmitti said in a statement to PK Press Club Digital. “We protected these young women, we exposed authorities’ retaliation against them for speaking the truth, and we brought their story to a national audience. Now we continue the real fight: restoring Title IX and defending women’s sports across America.”
Anderson said, “We spoke out because what was happening wasn’t right. AFPI has supported us from day one, made sure our story was heard, helped bring attention to this issue and continues to help us fight to protect women’s sports. I am grateful to everyone who has supported us.”
Eckard added: “Being able to stand up and say, ‘I don’t approve of this’ is a basic right that everyone learns in school. It was appalling that a real school event tried to silence us.
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Anderson and Eckard were honored at the 2025 Fox Nation Patriot Awards for their protest and trial, where they received the Most Valuable Patriot award and received their state championship medals.
“It’s really frustrating that we didn’t get them at the time…but that’s kind of what’s happening at this point. There are things more important than us fight for“Of course I wanted that medal, I worked really hard to get to that place where I was on the podium… but part of me also knew that that was part of the sacrifice I was making when I came off that podium, and that there would be consequences.”
