A judge has ruled that the University of Kentucky did not violate Title IX requirements as it pertains to the school's offering of opportunities for women to participate in varsity sports.
The ruling comes more than a year after a three-day trial in which former UK students alleged the university didn't offer equal opportunities for women to participate in varsity sports. That lawsuit was originally filed by two UK students, but it later became a class-action lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs have failed to prove that the selection of sports and levels of competition at UK do not effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of UK’s female students,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Karen Caldwell in the ruling, according to reporting from the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Lawyers for the university argued that UK has sufficiently expanded opportunities for women, adding more than 100 female athletes in the past 10 years, as well as a varsity stunt team. Lawyers also cited the results of an interest and ability survey, which gauges student's ability to play a sport at the collegiate level.
“The University of Kentucky fully complies with Title IX and its regulations concerning participation in intercollegiate athletics. As a campus community, we care deeply about these issues,” UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said. “With 23 sports, UK has the broadest based athletics program in the Southeastern Conference. The current sports offerings fully accommodate the interests and abilities of our undergraduate students. We are pleased that the court recognized this and ruled in the university’s favor today.”
Lawyers for the students argued that UK has not sufficiently met requirements to offer equal opportunities for women, noting that multiple requests have been made to elevate women’s club sports to the varsity level, including the field hockey, lacrosse and equestrian teams, but the university determined there was not enough interest among its current student body to create teams in those areas.
Caldwell ruled that while UK fails to meet certain Title IX requirements, that “is not by itself a Title IX violation.”
According to the Herald-Leader, the trial and ruling looked at the “three-prong test” related to Title IX:
- Substantial proportionality, meaning a school’s ratio of female participation in athletics is close to the ratio of female enrollment
- A history and pattern of adding participation opportunities
- Full and effective accommodation of athletic interests of women
A university can be in compliance as long as they are “continually expanding athletic opportunities in an ongoing effort to meet the needs of the underrepresented gender,” the ruling says.
Caldwell specifically said that lawyers for the students failed to meet their burden of proof for the third prong, “full and effective accommodation of athletic interests of women."
“Plaintiffs must prove that there are female students actually able to compete at a varsity level in a sport and that there are enough of them to form a team,” Caldwell wrote. “Plaintiffs confine their argument to field hockey, lacrosse, and equestrian. For the reasons stated, Plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden in any of these particular sports at this time.”
