According to the Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. (KYTX) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a prior court order that Quinnipiac University must do more to provide female student athletes with the same opportunities the school offers to men.
The ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed findings by U.S. District Court Judge Stefan R. Underhill that the school discriminated against female students by overstating the number and significance of competitive, intercollegiate athletic positions available to them.
The school appealed Underhill's finding of discrimination, arguing that his conclusions were based in large part on an erroneous count of the school's roster of athletic positions for woman. The appeals court agreed with Underhill, who ordered Quinnipiac a year ago to immediately bring its athletic program into balance.
Underhill found in July 2011 that Quinnipiac was in violation of a landmark federal law, known commonly as Title IX, that prohibits gender discrimination, in both academics and athletics, at educational institutions receiving federal money.
Among other things, the appeals court upheld Underhill's finding that Quinnipiac's creation of a 30-member, competitive women's' cheerleading squad did not give women the same competitive opportunity as would a varsity sport.
"We expect the Second Circuit's decision to finally persuade Quinnipiac and any other university in violation of Title IX to stop fighting gender equity and start providing meaningful and equal athletic opportunities for women," said Sandra Staub, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut and one of the attorneys representing the women who sued for discrimination.
The school said it offers female students a variety of sports.
The University naturally is disappointed that the court did not rule as it had hoped," said Lynn Bushnell, vice president for public affairs. "Quinnipiac will continue to enhance opportunities for our female student-athletes, which include volleyball, acrobatics and tumbling, basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, softball, tennis and indoor and outdoor track and field."
Underhill ruled in a suit brought in March 2009 by five female student volleyball players and their female coach. At the time, the school planned to discontinue volleyball.
He had concluded previously that Quinnipiac managed its varsity athletic rosters in a way that discriminated against women by setting artificially high roster ceilings for men's teams and artificially low ceilings for women. At the same time, he certified the suit as a class action, allowing current and future female Quinnipiac students to join.
The student athletes sued on several grounds but agreed to let the case go to trial on the claim that Quinnipiac discriminates on the basis of sex in its allocation of athletic participation opportunities. The case was tried in June 2011 to Underhill rather than a jury..
