The U.S. Department of Education revealed that San Jose State University is guilty of discrimination against women by permitting a transgender athlete to play on its women’s volleyball team.
To resolve the situation, the department proposed an agreement to San Jose State. This includes adhering to federal definitions of “male” and “female,” restoring titles and records that were allegedly taken by male athletes during previous administrations, and issuing apologies to female athletes.
So far, university officials haven’t offered any comments on this development.
This Department is pursuing a range of actions against states, schools, and universities that permit transgender athletes to compete, a practice that former President Trump aimed to eliminate. Should San Jose State decline the deal, it risks a lawsuit from the Justice Department and potentially losing federal funding.
San Jose State’s investigation began back in February, coordinated with a similar probe at the University of Pennsylvania, which has since accepted a comparable agreement. This resolved issues concerning records set by transgender swimmer Leah Thomas, accompanied by apologies to other swimmers.
According to department officials, San Jose State violated Title IX of the Gender Equality Act of 1972 by allowing transgender athletes to join its teams and allegedly retaliating against players who voiced objections.
Kimberly Ritchie, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, stated, “We will not relent until SJSU is held accountable for these abuses and commits to Title IX to protect future athletes from the same humiliation.”
The volleyball team garnered national attention recently when nine student-athletes from the Mountain West Conference filed a lawsuit against the league’s policy that accommodates transgender athletes. They contended that such policies are unjust and present safety concerns.
Some teams chose not to compete against San Jose State, resulting in losses for those teams.
It’s important to note that San Jose State University has stated they do not permit transgender players on their volleyball team.
If accepted, the proposed agreement would require San Jose State to issue separate apologies to all women who were part of the indoor volleyball team from 2022 to 2024, the beach volleyball team in 2023, and to any woman disqualified from participating at San Jose State.
