Trin Baseball Captain Wins Woman of the Year at NESCAC Equality Conference

Savannah Brooks ’26

Managing Editor

On Friday, April 11, Trinity baseball captain Guy Cox ’25 won the award for Woman of the Year at the 10th annual NESCAC Equality Conference held in Boston. Cox is the first Trinity-affiliated winner of the award, with previous winners including Tera Hunter, a Middlebury women’s lacrosse player who led her team to victory during her senior year three months after giving birth, as well as a now retired Amherst tennis coach who founded the women’s tennis program and was the first female coach in the conference for a men’s team. 

Cox’s award was the last to be presented during the evening. Hunter, who presented it to him as the most recent winner of the award, mentioned in her prepared statement that Cox received the award for the “strength, bravery and tenacity in reposting an Instagram post about Trinity’s Title IX audit on his story.” Cox’s repost was of the findings of Trinity’s recent Title IX audit, which documented a number of issues, including Trinity’s softball team still not having lights for their field. The subsequent response to this audit — fixing the issues Trinity was forced to fix — led to Trinity’s Athletic Director, Drew Galbraith, receiving an award himself for Athletic Director of the Year. Cox accepted the award, which was honorary and therefore had no other nominees, sporting a baseball cap, athletic t-shirt and short running shorts. In his speech, Cox thanked God for the award and mentioned several times how much he loved women. After the event, the Tripod sat down with Cox for an exclusive interview.

“I mean, it really is an honor,” Cox told the Tripod. “Unexpected, for sure. When I got the call telling me I won, I was, like, ‘woah.’ I actually wasn’t going to come to the ceremony because of the season, but we’re playing Tufts this weekend anyway, so Boston was kind of on the way. So it worked out pretty well.” When asked about how he feels being the first man to win Woman of the Year, Cox expressed surprise. “Wait, seriously? I didn’t know I was the first guy to win it. Wow, that’s awesome. It’s harder than ever to be a man in this country,” Cox said, starting to tear up. “I’m just proud to keep breaking glass ceilings for the young boys out there who don’t know if they’ll get these kinds of opportunities. Growing up with a name like Cox, you know, it was tough. But I’m proud. I’m proud to be a Cox. Nobody should have to be ashamed of who they are. This award is really for the Coxs of the world.” 

Upon being asked about Cox’s win, NESCAC’s Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Ruth Beckham, told the Tripod that “We really needed to stir the pot a bit this year. Nobody is really down for these DEI awards anymore, so we had to convince people it was worth it. It’s our 10th anniversary, so Woman of the Year being a man is kind of like a 10th anniversary special. I don’t know. My job is on the line here, so I needed to pull a hail mary. Wait, why are you writing this down? Am I on the record?”

The results of the Equality Conference Awards will be published on the NESCAC’s website once NESCAC leadership decides it won’t get their federal funding pulled.