Petition to Reinstate Women’s Rugby at Quinnipiac University

Quinnipiac University’s recent announcement of athletics realignment cites long-term financial sustainability, competitive success, and Title IX compliance as guiding priorities. However, the decision to eliminate the women’s rugby program directly contradicts these stated goals and undermines a program that has been central to Quinnipiac’s national identity, athletic success, and leadership in women’s sports.

Women’s rugby at Quinnipiac is not a marginal program and historically it is a program of success and influence in the country. The team has won three national championships, consistently competes at the highest level, and has developed elite athletes, including Olympians such as Ilona Maher, who earned a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games. Cutting a program with this level of competitive excellence raises serious questions about the university’s commitment to athletic success.

Beyond wins and accolades, Quinnipiac has long been recognized as a pioneer in varsity women’s rugby. As the second ever NCAA Division I varsity women's rugby program, and the longest standing program, Quinnipiac helped shape the modern model for collegiate women’s rugby in the United States. The university was also a founding member and directly involved in the evolution of the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association, which formalized and elevated women’s rugby at the varsity level nationwide. Eliminating this program abandons a leadership role that Quinnipiac itself helped build.

Importantly, women’s rugby was not added arbitrarily. It was introduced in 2011 in direct response to a landmark Title IX lawsuit, Biediger v. Quinnipiac University, in which courts found that Quinnipiac failed to provide equitable athletic opportunities for women.  As part of the 2013 settlement, the university committed to expanding women’s athletic opportunities and specifically invested in and elevated women’s rugby as a varsity sport, including increased scholarships, staffing, and resources.

Cutting women’s rugby now raises serious concerns about whether Quinnipiac risks falling out of compliance with Title IX once again. Title IX requires institutions to provide equitable participation opportunities for women; removing a women’s sport, especially one created to address a prior gender equity gap, could reduce those opportunities and recreate disparities that federal courts have already ruled unlawful.

Women’s Rugby at Quinnipiac is also one of the least financially burdensome programs at $128,000 per year. This decision is not simply about one team, it is about equity, legacy, and institutional integrity. Eliminating women’s rugby:

-Undermines a nationally elite, and championship-winning program
-Removes opportunities for current and future female student-athletes
-Reverses progress made through a historic Title IX settlement
-Signals a retreat from Quinnipiac’s leadership in women’s collegiate sports

We call on Quinnipiac University, their President Marie Hardin and Athletic Director Greg Amodio to reverse its decision and reinstate women’s rugby. This should not just be a legal obligation but it is a commitment to fairness, opportunity, and the continued advancement of women in athletics.

** Please note while there is an option to donate via change.org, the money donated to this petition DOES NOT go to the Rugby program; to our understanding, it looks like the donation money goes to Change.org in an effort to "increasing visibility" of the petition.**