Concordia University's attempt to support athletics with one hand cutting four sports the other was obstructed by a federal judge who issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Division II university from ending its women's swimming and tennis programs.
Seven members of the women's swimming and diving team and two tennis players in a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit filed in August argue that by eliminating the programs, the Irvine school is violating Title IX.
Judge Fred Slaughter agreed, ruling that the injunction will remain in effect during the trial. Concordia must immediately reinstate the women's teams and provide them with “funding, staffing and all other benefits commensurate with their status as varsity intercollegiate teams,” Slaughter wrote in the 19-page ruling.
Concordia announced layoffs men's and women's swimming and tennis teams in May, saying the school had “determined that the current model is not viable in the face of rising operating costs, capacity limitations and significant changes in collegiate athletics.”
But the cuts came at a time when Concordia was spending $25.5 million to upgrade the university's athletic infrastructure. A week after athletic director Crystal Rosenthal estimated the cuts would save $550,000 a year, she sent an email to unaffected athletes boasting that major improvements would be made to Concordia's athletic infrastructure.
Rosenthal, who is also the school's softball coach, wrote: “We are currently undergoing a major construction project costing $17.5 million that includes a new 19,000 square foot facility with a state-of-the-art weight room, locker rooms and state-of-the-art training rooms. This facility reflects our belief in the future of our athletic programs and our student-athletes.”
She added that more than $8 million has been allocated for upgrades to the baseball, softball and soccer/track/lacrosse fields, including the installation of outdoor lighting.
The lawsuit followed in August, and Slaughter issued a preliminary injunction Friday. Arthur Bryant, an attorney representing female athletes, said women make up 59% of Concordia's student body but received only 51.2% of athletic roster spots.
“The court's thorough and compelling decision confirms what we have said from the beginning: CUI's decision to eliminate the women's swimming, diving and tennis teams was a flagrant violation of Title IX,” Bryant said in a statement. “Concordia needs to add about 100 opportunities for women to achieve gender equality. It should not exclude any women's teams.”
Parallel infrastructure spending it was especially offensive athletes and some graduates, according to SwimSwim. The swimming and water polo teams train off campus and place few operational demands on the school. Last season, the swim team consisted of 23 men and 25 women.
Concordia, a Lutheran school of about 1,500 students that moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2017, is one of several universities whose efforts to cut athletic programs have been thwarted by the courts.
In August, a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction against Stephen F. Austin State, blocking the school from eliminating its women's beach volleyball, bowling and golf programs. According to SporticoAt least eight other schools have been ordered to reinstate programs after Title IX problems since 2020: Iowa, William & Mary, UC Dartmouth, Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina Pembroke and Dickinson College.
