Two years after a lawsuit was filed in federal court, Michigan State University reached a settlement with 11 members of the former women’s swimming and diving team.
Those athletes were suing to have their program reinstated but settled for the university taking a deeper look at its compliance with Title IX, a federal law that prevents sex-based discrimination and requires schools provide equal athletics opportunities for men and women.
The settlement, which was reached Friday, calls for Michigan State to appoint an independent gender equity review director and become fully Title IX compliant by the end of the 2026-27 school year. Michigan State will also play for the plaintiffs’ legal fees.
That agreement was the result of settlement conferences this week with a bench trial that was scheduled to begin on Feb. 6.
“These women were treated like second-class citizens even before their team was eliminated, and this settlement will ensure that future Spartan women will be treated equally at MSU,” Lori Bullock, lead lawyer for the swimmers and divers, said in a statement. “While these women are not back in the water as Division I swimmers and divers at MSU, by standing up to a Power 5 athletics program like Michigan State, they have demonstrated that women everywhere can demand equality. They united and said, ‘enough is enough.’ I am humbled that I was able to stand alongside these incredible students in their fight for equality.”
Former Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman in October 2020 announced the women’s and men’s swimming and diving programs would be eliminated after the 2020-21 season, citing facility limitations and financial constraints amid the pandemic. The university honored scholarship commitments to the athletes.
“We are pleased to have reached a resolution in this case,” Michigan State deputy spokesman Dan Olsen said in a statement. “MSU remains committed to providing equal opportunities for all student-athletes. While the university is in compliance with Title IX, these measures will help ensure public trust in our compliance enforcement through an ongoing independent, third-party review.”
Olsen said the gender equity review must be complete by Sept. 1 and if there are issues with Tile IX compliance, the university would need to develop a plan to rectify those. He said if the independent review determines there are no compliance issues, there’s no need to put together a plan.
The 11 swimmers and divers filed the lawsuit in January 2021 against Michigan State, its Board of Trustees, Beekman and former president Samuel Stanley. A month later, District Court Judge Hala Jarbou denied an injunction to have the team reinstated before the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned that decision and sent it back for additional proceedings.
Michigan State asked the United States Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals’ decision but the case was rejected in December. That resulted in the university in December fulfilling a court order and submitting an initial compliance plan. That plan stated Michigan State would “continue its current compliance with Title IX” and the university estimated the participation gap would be reduced to nine female athletes for the 2022-23 school year.
Members of the swimming and diving program and advocates for them regularly spoke at Board of Trustee meetings, seeking reinstatement. Alan Haller, who replaced Beekman as athletic director in September 2021, had discussions about the possibility of reinstating the women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams, according to his court deposition. The lawsuit settlement doesn’t bring either team back but the athletes and their advocates continue pushing for them to return.
“I am extremely happy with the relief that was granted today for us and future female student-athletes at MSU,” former Michigan State swimmer and plaintiff Sophia Balow said in a statement. “I am very proud and extremely humbled to stand amongst such incredible, strong women. This process has been difficult, and I am disappointed that after 2 years of litigation MSU continues to demonstrate its unwillingness to right its wrongs from the past. But the battle for Spartan Swim & Dive is alive and well, and we look forward to continuing to advocate for the reinstatement of Michigan State Swimming & Diving.”