Jennifer Anne Sey (born 1969) is an American author, business executive, and retired

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. She was a seven-time member of the

United States women's national artistic gymnastics team The United States women's national artistic gymnastics team represents the United States in FIG international competitions. As of 2024, the U.S. team is the reigning World team champion and the reigning Olympic team gold medalists, with the f ...

and was the 1986 U.S. Women's All-Around National Champion. She was also a member of the 1985 U.S.

Women's World Championship The Women's World Championship was the first Women's professional wrestling world championship in the world. History Cora Livingston defeated Hazel Parker in 1906. Though the contest was for the Featherweight Championship, from that point she ...

team that finished 6th, as well as the U.S. Women's Team at the

1986 Goodwill Games The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Sov ...

. Following her gymnastics career, Sey entered the business world, and is presently the Founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics. She developed a social media following due to her critical views on school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Early life

Sey grew up in

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...

and moved to

Haddonfield, New Jersey Haddonfield is a borough (New Jersey), borough located in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 12,550, an increase of 957 (+8.3%) from the ...

, where she competed in gymnastics as a teenager and attended

Haddonfield Memorial High School Haddonfield Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Haddonfield, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondar ...

. In 1983 she moved to

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

to train at the

Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center, widely known as Parkettes, is a gymnastics club located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It has produced several teams and individual gymnasts representing the United States, the Czech Republic, and Canada ...

. She graduated from

Allentown Central Catholic High School Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS), often referred to as Central Catholic or Central, is a private, parochial school located at 301 N. 4th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The school is managed by the Diocese of Allentown, and pred ...

in 1987. In the

1985 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 23rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, Sey was hospitalized after fracturing her right femur. Sey then won the 1986

USA Gymnastics National Championships The USA Gymnastics National Championships is the annual artistic gymnastics national competition held in the United States for elite-level competition. It is currently organized by USA Gymnastics, the governing body for gymnastics in the United S ...

and deferred her college education to train for the 1988 Olympics. However, she decided not to enter the Olympic Trials owing to an injured left ankle which made it "physically impossible" to continue. After that disappointment, Sey lost her appetite for a while. In 1988, Sey enrolled at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. She competed on the gymnastics team for one season in 1989 and graduated from Stanford in 1992 with a double

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in political science and communication.

Career

Sey began working at Levi Strauss & Co. in 1999, rising to chief marketing officer and brand president. In February 2022, Sey resigned from Levi's after nearly 23 years at the company, over disputes with management. Sey claims the resignation was in regard to her views on school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2020 and 2021, she gained attention on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

and in the media as a critic of K-12 school closure. Sey is the author of ''Chalked Up'', an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

of her time as an elite gymnast, and was one of the producers of '' Athlete A'', a documentary on the

Larry Nassar Lawrence Gerard Nassar (born August 16, 1963) is an American former family medicine osteopathic physician and convicted sex offender. From 1996 to 2014, he was the team doctor of the United States women's national gymnastics team, where he use ...

sexual abuse scandal at

USA Gymnastics United States of America Gymnastics (USA Gymnastics or USAG) is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. It sets the domestic rules and policies that govern the sport, promotes and develops gymnastics on the grassroots ...

, which won an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for the 2020 Outstanding Investigative Documentary. In November 2022, Sey published ''Levi's Unbuttoned: The Woke Mob Took My Job But Gave Me My Voice'', an

of her time at Levi's. Since leaving Levi's, Sey has been a contributing author to the Brownstone Institute, a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

that opposes various measures against COVID-19, including

masking Masking can mean: Arts and media * Masking (art), protecting a selected area from change during production, as with tape and stencils * Masking (illustration), an art technique that influences the intended perception of a character * MASKING, t ...

and vaccine mandates, and has written columns for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' about the "

woke ''Woke'' is an adjective derived from African-American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination, often in the construction ''stay woke''. The term acquired p ...

mob" and

cancel culture Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon in which an individual thought to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner is ostracized, boycotted, shunned or fired, often aided by social media. This shunning may extend to social or professio ...

. In February 2023, Sey compared the

online harassment Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using Electronic communication network, electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and Adolescence, a ...

from speaking up about COVID-19 school closures to harassment from speaking up about abuse in sport. In March 2024, Sey started XX-XY Athletics, a

sportswear Sportswear or activewear is athletic clothing, including footwear, worn for sports activity or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical spor ...

company. The brand's statement is that they want message "being brave, telling the truth, and protecting women’s sports". The company ethos states “it is simply unfair and dangerous at times to allow males (XY) to compete in girls and women’s (XX chromosomes) sports.” The company employs

brand ambassadors A brand ambassador (sometimes also called a corporate ambassador) is a person paid by an organization or company to represent its brand in a positive light, helping to increase brand awareness and sales. The brand ambassador is meant to embody the ...

like Riley Gaines that some have called "

anti-trans Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or wikt:transness, transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not co ...

Personal life

Sey was a longtime resident of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

before relocating to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she now lives with her husband and four of her children.

References

External links

An Old School Gymnastics Blog: Jennifer Sey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sey, Jennifer 1969 births Living people Parkettes Writers from San Francisco U.S. women's national team gymnasts 21st-century American women Writers from Denver Haddonfield Memorial High School alumni Sportspeople from Cherry Hill, New Jersey People from Haddonfield, New Jersey Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences alumni Stanford Cardinal women's gymnasts Levi Strauss & Co. people 20th-century American sportswomen Writers from Camden County, New Jersey