(Washington, D.C.) The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) applauds the settlement announced today in the Title IX class action lawsuit Biediger, et al v. Quinnipiac University. Quinnipiac has agreed to retain all of its women’s teams (including volleyball, which it had previously dropped and attempted to replace with competitive cheerleading), provide more scholarships to female athletes, and improve the overall benefits provided to its women’s teams.
In September 2011, NWLC, on behalf of 20 women’s and civil rights organizations, filed an amicus brief in support of the female athletes in Biediger, et al v. Quinnipiac University before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In August 2012, the Second Circuit reaffirmed the U.S. Department of Education’s conclusion that competitive cheerleading did not provide the same quality of competition as other established sports and therefore did not meet Title IX criteria for qualifying as a sport. The court further agreed with the trial court that the college violated Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools, by maintaining a 3.62% gap between female enrollment at the college and opportunities provided to women; that gap translated into 38 additional spots needed for women, a disparity large enough to field another women’s team, when there was sufficient interest to close it.
The following is a statement by NWLC Co-President Marcia D. Greenberger:
“We support Quinnipiac University’s plan to comply with Title IX and provide its female students additional opportunities to play sports. The stakes were high in this case, and the precedent-setting decision provides guidance to schools across the country about how to measure compliance with Title IX’s participation requirements and what counts as a sport under the law. The case also demonstrates that careful scrutiny of schools’ data is essential to ensure that women and girls truly receive equal opportunities to play sports. We’ve come a long way in the four decades since Title IX was enacted, but there is still much work to be done before its promise of equal opportunity is fulfilled. There is so much at stake: Studies show that playing sports leads to better physical and mental health, more responsible social behavior, and greater academic achievement.”
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