Oregon University is in some serious trouble.
In a landmark legal action that could reshape the dynamics of college sports’ NIL system, 32 female athletes from the University of Oregon have filed a class action lawsuit Title IX for sex discrimination against their university.
32 athletes from the women’s beach volleyball and club rowing team are accusing the school of violating Title IX by “depriving them of equal athletic financial aid and other resources.”
Via Sportico:
“Those other disproportionate resources, the plaintiffs allege, are the benefits UO athletes receive through Oregon’s NIL collective, Division Street, and Opendorse, which hosts the Ducks’ official NIL marketplace,” Sportico’s Daniel Libit wrote.
“Though Division Street is a separate legal entity from Oregon, the plaintiffs are attempting to hold the school responsible for what they say are the disparate opportunities the for-profit entity provides female athletes as compared with the men. Crediting the added publicity and support male athletes receive, the lawsuit cites On3’s NIL player valuation rankings, which recently showed three Oregon football players listed among the top-100 college athletes nationally.”
The complaint claims that football team members are given so much publicity and university-driven NIL support that three of the team’s players are listed among On3’s NIL 100 list. The complaint notes that no Oregon female athlete is listed.
Oregon’s beach volleyball players had never received athletic grants-in-aid during the program’s decade in existence, and was the only Power Five public school program without any scholarship funding in the 2021-22 academic year.
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According to the athletes, the only support from men’s teams regarding the lawsuit have come from men’s club rowing.
“I’m not sure [men’s varsity sports] are aware of what’s going on. The more advocates we can get for us, the quicker and the better we can be treated equally,” beach volleyball member Batia Rotshtein said.
Three of the plaintiffs were at a press conference: women’s beach volleyball captain Ashley Schroeder, beach volleyball athlete Batia Rotshtein, and women’s club rowing captain Elise Haverland.
Schroeder, the lead plaintiff, said “Based on the way the beach volleyball team has been treated, female athletes at Oregon do not need much food or water, good or clean clothes or uniforms, scholarships, medical treatment or mental health services.
Haverland said the female student-athletes are holding the UO accountable for its actions.
“We love this school, but, in addition to treating its women athletes unfairly, it is also depriving us and other women of equal opportunities to participate,” Haverland said in a press release. “Oregon’s own numbers show it needs to add at least 94 varsity women athletes to reach proportionality.”
Other plaintiffs in the case include: beach volleyball members Zoe Almanza, Jade Bernal, Kendall Clark, Josie Cole, Vivian Donovan, Halli Fields, Siuloloavo Folau, Natasha George, Josie Griffiths, Alexandra Haden, Delaney Hopen, Madelyn Lafollette, Alex Laita, Anatasia Lima, Mia Lopez, Dahlia McAllister, Presley McCaskill, Abigail Plevin, Valerie Peterson, Batia Rotshtein, Savannah Siegrist, Alaina Thomas, Ella Tyus, Carly Wallace, and Beatrice Wetton and women’s club rowing team members Claire Daley, Anna Maria Knight, River Ribeiro, Sophia Schmitz, and Sydney Weddle.
Title IX is the 51-year-old federal law that protects students from sex-based discrimination at any school that receives federal funding.
