SAN DIEGO — The group of female athletes who sued San Diego State University last year over allegedly receiving less scholarship money than male athletes got the green light from a federal judge to seek damages from the university.
Walking by Mission Bay brings back great memories for Kamryn Whitworth, who was a part of the women’s rowing team at San Diego State University.
“It was almost like having built in sisters,” Whitworth recalled.
Coming back to the spot where they practiced also reminds her how much it hurt when the school announced they were dropping the sport during her 2020-21 season. The athletic department claimed they had too many female athletes for Title IX compliance. Title IX is the 1972 landmark legislation that prohibits gender discrimination at educational institutions receiving federal funding.
Now, Whitworth is part of a group of female athletes suing the university for allegedly violating Title IX gender equity requirements by not providing women’s sports with enough scholarship money.
“I’m just hoping that the story spreads and that people can hear about it and that other universities are following the rules and that they’re treating all of their athletes fairly,” she said.
Data provided by the women and their attorneys allege SDSU deprived its female athletes of more than $5 million in financial aid between 2010 and 2020, and that the university’s practice of giving more scholarship money to male athletes is still happening. The lawsuit also claims the university retaliated against the athletes who joined the lawsuit.
SDSU declined an on-camera interview, but said in a statement: “SDSU’s funding level for women’s scholarships, and its female athletic participation, is and remains among the highest for all Mountain West schools, all schools in California, and the NCAA. SDSU awards almost all possible scholarships permitted under NCAA rules for both its men’s and women’s teams, with the remaining fraction explained by legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons within SDSU coaches’ discretion. SDSU does not discriminate against its female student-athletes. The university supports and promotes its female student-athletes, and is proud of their accomplishments and, throughout the history of our program, our female student-athletes have represented a wide range of sports and are high achievers both on and off the field.”
Jeremy Evans is an entertainment, media and sports attorney in Los Angeles who operates the California Sports Lawyer podcast. He said the eyes of the country will be on the outcome of this lawsuit, because the unprecedented ruling by a federal judge now gives former and current athletes the ability to seek compensation if they prove discrimination in scholarship pay.
“Title IX doesn’t require that you have equal programs, but you need to have equal treatment,” Evans said.
The statement from SDSU addressed this new ruling by saying, “The Court’s ruling simply means that some of the plaintiffs’ allegations meet the minimum requirements for eligibility to proceed to the next phase of the case, which is still in its infancy. The Court expressly carved out any opinion about whether the plaintiffs would be able to prove any monetary damages at some point in the future.”
Evans predicts a long road ahead and a tough battle on both sides but hopes whatever the outcome is, it makes Title IX protections stronger.
“You need to pay attention to what the law is; but you also need to be in a situation where you’re understanding compliance and you’re understanding the ability to change with the times,” he said. “A case like this could really determine how schools basically comply with the law and how the government enforces it.”
Whitworth has since graduated but hopes the ongoing lawsuit promotes equality in the world, no matter who wins.
“I want to keep reminding everybody what we’re doing and what we stand for and then hopefully from here on out there won’t be any more issues for female athletes or male athletes as well,” she said.