UC Davis Women's Equestrian: Title IX Lawsuit Filed Against UC Davis for Sex-Based Discrimination

Today, nationally recognized Title IX attorney Arthur Bryant filed a federal lawsuit against UC Davis alleging it has violated Title IX by discriminating against its female student-athletes. 

This lawsuit is an important new development in the fight to reinstate the UC Davis Women's Equestrian Team.

For the past 8 months, we have worked to understand how a 3-time championship-winning women's equestrian team at a top agricultural school could be eliminated despite the extraordinary commitment of the student-athletes and the availability of donor support.

What we uncovered revealed  a deeply troubling pattern of errors and misrepresentations.

An independent analysis and UC Davis's own internal audit identified significant errors and omissions in the financial information used in the decision-making process. Their own audit confirmed that the third-party report that the AD said was used to justify its elimination had faulty numbers.

We offered a path for donors to fully cover the team's expenses for years, yet that proposal was rejected on Day 1.

We uncovered significant disparities in the treatment of male and female athletes at UC Davis, including disparities involving facilities, recruiting, financial aid and media coverage. 

We tried to contact UC leaderships through thousands of emails and hundreds of phone calls. We explained the lifelong consequences not only for the women whose team was eliminated, but for the committed recruits who were then denied admission.

But our concerns have gone unanswered.

Now, a federal lawsuit has been filed and we are asking the university to listen.

WOMEN MATTER.

OLYMPIC SPORTS MATTER.

We ask you to please email UC leadership and ask them to reinstate the UC Davis Women's Equestrian Team. Tell them that these women deserve the same commitment, opportunity and equitable treatment afforded to their male counterparts. Tell them that we will continue to stand together and fight for these women.

TO: regentsoffice@ucop.edu; president@ucop.edu; dnnichols@ucdavis.edu; provost@ucdavis.edu; provost@ucop.edu; bjminto@ucdavis.edu; charles.robinson@ucop.edu; jkstewart@ucdavis.edu; chancellor@ucdavis.edu

SUBJECT: Title IX Sex-Based Discrimination: Reinstate the 3-Time Championship Women's Equestrian Team 

BODY:  Your internal compliance audit identified serious errors in the narrative that was used to destroy the futures of 50 women athletes.  Rocko DeLuca stated that this decision was based on a 3rd party report that we now know was not only incomplete but contained serious errors. And your own published numbers show Title IX violations going back years.

We stand with women everywhere. Please do the right thing and reinstate the 3-time championship winning women's equestrian team at your top agricultural school.