Thirty-two female athletes at the University of Oregon have filed a lawsuit against the school claiming that it is not following Title IX laws.
The 115-page suit, filed by Bailey & Glasser, says the school has been “depriving women of equal treatment and benefits, equal athletic aid, and equal opportunities.”
The suit cites an investigative story by “The Oregonian” in July that says the volleyball team “practices and plays home games in a city park” and uses public restrooms “with no doors on the stalls.”
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A general view of Autzen Stadium prior to kickoff during a PAC-12 conference football game between the Colorado Buffaloes and Oregon Ducks on September 23, 2023, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
City officials told the outlet that the stalls do not have doors, due to fears that people will use drugs in the bathroom.
“Players often feel unsafe to use the bathroom facilities, as there are often vagrants inside or around the restroom building. The student-athletes have witnessed these vagrants injecting intravenous drugs or using crack cocaine,” the complaint says.
The team was unable to practice last week, because “someone died near the public courts,” according to beach volleyball captain Ashley Schroeder.
Meanwhile, as the volleyball team practices under those conditions, the football team has “unbelievably better treatment than [the school] gives to any of its female student-athletes.”
“While the men’s football team members receive brand-new, exclusive, personally tailored gear, the women’s beach volleyball team members share a limited amount of tattered gear, handed down for years, that often does not fit,” the complaint reads.
An overhead interior view of the field during the first half of a game between the Oregon Ducks and the Colorado Buffaloes at Autzen Stadium on September 23, 2023, in Eugene, Oregon. (Tom Hauck/Getty Images)
In fact, the complaint claims that Oregon “awards its male student-athletes with much more athletic financial aid than it awards to its female student-athletes. Oregon does not award a single dollar of athletic financial aid to the women’s beach volleyball team members. No other varsity team at Oregon—or in the Pac-12—is subject to such discrimination.”
The piece in “The Oregonian” says that the university spent $296,607 on the beach volleyball team in 2021-2022, by far the lowest out of any program in the school. The second-lowest was the men’s tennis team at $834,754, and every other program had over $1 million spent.
“Women are 49% of the student-athletes, but Oregon spends only 25% of its athletics dollars and 15% of its recruiting dollars on them,” Bailey & Glasser says.
“Title IX has been the law for more than fifty years. Oregon needs to comply with it, now,” said attorney Arthur H. Bryant.
The Oregon Ducks mascot, Puddles, performs for the crowd during a PAC-12 Conference college football game between the UCLA Bruins and Oregon Ducks on October 22, 2022, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. (Brian Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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The suit also mentions that the football team gets “nearly-unlimited publicity,” leading to more NIL opportunities.
The 32 athletes consist of 26 beach volleyball players and six members of the women’s rowing team.
