PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Attorneys have filed a motion alleging that Brown University violated a two-decade old agreement to provide gender equity in varsity sports in compliance with federal Title IX law by announcing the elimination of several women’s athletic teams.
Attorneys for Public Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island allege in the motion filed in federal court Monday that the Ivy League school violated terms of the 1998 agreement when it announced last month it would cut women’s fencing, golf, squash, skiing and equestrian teams in an effort to streamline its athletic department.
The cuts would result in “immediate and irreparable harm,” the motion says.
Brown said it will comply with the original agreement, in part, by adding co-ed and women’s varsity sailing teams, according to the ACLU.
But Brown can’t comply with the original settlement based on “teams that do not exist” the ACLU said in a statement.
Brown in a statement defended its commitment to women’s sports.
The motion “is a preemptive legal action asserting a hypothetical violation that has not taken place,” the university said.
The university said it is confident the proportion of women athletes will be in compliance with the original agreement and Title IX for the upcoming athletic seasons.
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