California Lutheran to restore women’s lacrosse after Title IX deal

California Lutheran University agreed to bring back its women’s lacrosse team, undergo an independent gender equity review, and bring its athletics program into Title IX compliance. The deal resolves a dispute over the school’s April decision to cut the team and avoids a planned federal class action.

Why it matters: - The agreement restores a women’s varsity team that players said was cut in violation of Title IX. - The deal also requires CLU to examine whether its athletics program gives women equal participation opportunities and treatment. - The settlement could affect how CLU allocates roster spots, resources and future women’s sports offerings.

What happened: - California Lutheran University agreed to reinstate its women’s lacrosse team. - CLU will hire an agreed-upon gender equity specialist to conduct a gender equity review. - The university will ensure its varsity intercollegiate athletic program complies with Title IX. - The women’s lacrosse team will continue competing in the upcoming academic year. - The agreement was announced July 7, 2026.

The details: - The dispute began after CLU announced on April 28, 2026, that it was immediately eliminating the women’s lacrosse team. - On May 26, 2026, Arthur Bryant sent a letter to CLU President on behalf of the team members and said the cut violated Title IX. - Bryant said CLU could not eliminate a women’s team when interest, ability and competition were available unless male and female participation opportunities were substantially proportionate to enrollment. - CLU maintained it was not and is not violating Title IX and said it completed the appropriate analysis before cutting the team. - The most recent publicly available Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data show CLU had 2,248 undergraduates in 2024-25: 1,228 women, or 54.63%, and 1,020 men, or 45.37%. - CLU’s intercollegiate teams had 615 athletes: 233 women, or 37.89%, and 382 men, or 62.11%. - That left a 16.74% gap between women’s undergraduate enrollment and women’s athletic participation. - Bryant said CLU was adding flag football, but that more women’s opportunities were still needed to meet Title IX. - The settlement says CLU will, if needed, develop and implement a gender equity plan so its athletics program complies with Title IX by the 2028-2029 academic year and beyond. - Bryant said he and his co-counsel would file a federal class action unless CLU reinstated the team, hired a gender equity specialist they approved and fixed its Title IX compliance. - The settlement avoids that lawsuit. - Team members identified in the dispute include Shea Simpson, Christina Arellanes, Nicki-Jean Henderson, Tess Keenan, Marina Markrud, Alexa Miller, Susan Rosas and Daphne White. - Simpson, an incoming junior, said the players believed the elimination violated Title IX and were eager to return to the field. - Arthur Bryant Law, P.C. served as lead counsel for the women. - Keller Grover LLP served as co-counsel, along with Benjamin Schenk of Schenk Law Firm and Robert Spencer of Keller Grover LLP.

Between the lines: - The settlement lets CLU resolve the dispute without a federal court fight, while also putting outside oversight on its athletics program. - The move signals that the university faced enough pressure to reverse a cut that plaintiffs said exposed a gap between female enrollment and female athletic access. - Independent review matters here because Title IX disputes often turn on whether participation opportunities match student enrollment and whether schools can justify cuts to women’s teams.

What’s next: - CLU must move quickly to restore the women’s lacrosse program. - The agreed gender equity specialist will review the athletics program and recommend any needed changes. - If necessary, CLU will implement a gender equity plan to meet Title IX requirements by the 2028-2029 academic year. - The women’s lacrosse team will keep preparing for the upcoming season.

The bottom line: - CLU backed away from eliminating women’s lacrosse and agreed to outside scrutiny of its athletics gender equity.