Female student athletes from the University of Oregon gathered at Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton in Eugene to announce the filing of a Title IX sex discrimination lawsuit against the UO on Friday, Dec. 1. Ashley Schroeder and Batia Rotshtein were present at the press conference from Oregon women’s beach volleyball along with Elise Haverland, captain of the women’s club rowing team. (Santiago/Emerald)

The University of Oregon has denied all allegations that it is in violation of Title IX regulations, in response to a Dec. 1, 2023 legal complaint filed by 32 female student athletes alleging that UO is in violation of sex discrimination in sports.
More than three months after the initial suit was filed, UO has responded to the complaint, citing that there is no evidence that the university engaged in gender discrimination with its male or female athletes in the past or current day.
In its response, UO argues that the comparison of women’s beach volleyball to the Oregon football team in the legal complaint is not how a Title IX suit works and that the comparison disregards the “clearly” equitable treatment provided to all athletes.
“The University of Oregon, which fields twelve varsity women’s teams compared to eight men’s varsity teams, provides its varsity student athletes, female and male, with a high-quality experience fully in compliance with Title IX,” the response states.
Currently, the women’s beach volleyball team practices at Amazon Park, a public park in Eugene. UO claims that it has been working towards raising enough money for an “identified, centrally located, women’s beach volleyball facility located in the heart of the University of Oregon’s campus.”
It also states that the UO has been authorizing scholarships for player recruitment for the women’s beach volleyball team long before the lawsuit was filed.
“The University of Oregon ensured and continues to ensure that beach volleyball players received access to the same services available to all other student-athletes based on the type of sport at issue (e.g., whether the sport is a contact sport or the size of team) without regard to the sex of the student athletes on the team.”
The statement states that all varsity teams have access to six main resources:

• A performance center which includes access to recovery, athletes medicine and strength and conditioning.

• Training table meals days a week at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex.

• Nutrition stations in athletic facilities around campus and access to nutritionists.

• Annual education related awards amounting to nearly 6,000 dollars.

• An allotment of gear and equipment for their respective sport.

• Access to the Jaqua center for tutoring, learning specialists, study hall and

• priority registration for classes.

In the 50th paragraph of UO’s introduction, UO states that prior to the filing, it allocated six scholarships to athletes on the women’s beach volleyball team for athlete recruitment. It also states that this is the maximum amount permitted by the NCAA.
“I understand they are now asserting that they have finally allocated six athletic scholarships for the women’s beach volleyball team,” Arthur Bryant, a lawyer for Bailey & Glasser and the leading lawyer for the female student-athletes, said. “If that’s true, that’s great news, but it’s kind of surprising they didn’t tell the team members and the team members don’t have them yet.”
In a statement to the Emerald on Sept. 27, 2023, UO said its “goals for an on-campus facility and adding scholarships for beach volleyball have not been realized yet,” despite the team’s operating budget increasing by nearly 700% according to that same statement.
“They give no explanation for why they couldn’t have done that years ago but we’re still delighted that they’re trying to correct that piece of the sex discrimination,” Bryant said.