Five members of the women’s tennis team at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota have filed a federal lawsuit against the university. The plaintiffs allege that women have far fewer athletic opportunities at the university than men. Two months ago, the university announced that it is eliminating six of its 23 varsity sports, including women’s tennis.
According to the lawsuit, there were at least 116 more athletic opportunities for men than for women in each of the past 12 years. In one year during the period, there were 179 more opportunities for men than women. Enrollments at the university are nearly identical for men and women.
The lawsuit accuses the university of over-reporting the number of women participating in athletics and under-reporting the number of men. “Thus,” according to the suit, “both the current and historic gaps in athletic participation opportunities offered to male students versus female students are higher than” the actual numbers reported to the U.S. Department of Education under Title IX provisions.