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A congressional Democrat has come forward to support San Jose State University and California State University in their lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., expressed support on social media for SJSU’s legal challenge to the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) findings that the university violated Title IX in its handling of a transgender volleyball player.
“I stand firmly with SJSU and the lawsuit they just filed against the federal government to prevent criminal proceedings against the university,” Lofgren wrote.
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“The Trump administration is attempting to freeze their federal funding based on alleged violations of Title IX during the 2022-24 volleyball seasons. These allegations are not grounded in fact or the law, and I applaud SJSU for standing up and defending its students and institution against these politicized attacks.”
Pakinomist Digital has reached out to ED for a response.
ED’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced in late January that an investigation into the university’s handling of a trans athlete and other players concluded that the school violated Title IX and gave the school an ultimatum to resolve the violation by accepting a series of conditions.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a game. The department claims, “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
But now, instead of complying, as the University of Pennsylvania did last summer in its handling of trans swimmer Lia Thomas, SJSU and CSU are suing to prevent potential federal funding cuts.
FORMER SJSU VOLLEYBALL STAR OPENS UP ON LIVING WITH TRANS TEAM FOOD NOT KNOWING ATHLETE’S BIOLOGICAL SEX
A photo shared by San Jose Spartans’ Blaire Fleming and Todd Kress. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images and Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“Because we believe OCR’s findings are not based on fact or the law, SJSU and CSU today filed a lawsuit against the federal government to challenge these findings and prevent the federal government from taking punitive action against the university, including the potential withholding of critical federal funding,” SJSU President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said Friday.
“This is not a step we take lightly. However, we have a responsibility to defend the integrity of our institution and the rule of law, while ensuring that every member of our community is treated fairly and in accordance with the law. Our position is simple: We followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so.”
The school is also asking OCR to retract its findings and close its investigation.
Teniente-Matson reaffirmed the university’s commitment to advocating for the LGBTQ community in the announcement.
“Our support for the LGBTQ members of our community who have experienced threats and harm over the past several years remains unwavering. We know the attention the university has received around this issue and the investigative process that followed has been disturbing to many in our community,” the president said.
“We have heard the fear and anxiety this has created and recognize that it has been difficult to wait for the university’s response at a time already fraught with uncertainty.”
The university and its volleyball program were thrust into the national spotlight in 2024 after it was revealed that the team had admitted trans athlete Blaire Fleming since 2022.
Former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit and led her own, claiming she was never told Fleming was a biological male when she joined the team and shared bedrooms and changing rooms with Fleming without that knowledge. Slusser has since said she shared an apartment and even beds at times with Fleming, while not knowing Fleming’s birth gender.
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A federal judge issued a ruling on Slusser’s lawsuit’s motion to dismiss last Tuesday. Colorado District Judge Kato Crews dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ allegations against the Mountain West Conference, but did not dismiss charges of Title IX violations against the CSU system.
Crews deferred its decision on whether to dismiss those charges until after a decision in the ongoing BPJ v. West Virginia Supreme Court case expected in June.
