Stanford Athletes Sue Over University Cutting Sports: Report

PALO ALTO, CA — Stanford athletes from eight different teams filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the university over its decision to eliminate 11 varsity sports, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, alleges that Stanford “surreptitiously withheld and misrepresented its plans to eliminate varsity teams because it knew that doing so would have caused student athletes, including plaintiffs, to make different decisions about where to attend college,” the Chronicle reported.

A separate lawsuit also filed Wednesday by female athletes on five teams alleges gender discrimination by Stanford over the loss of athletic opportunities as a result of the proposed cuts.

In a statement to the Chronicle, a Stanford spokesperson said the lawsuits will not influence ongoing conversations the university is having with stakeholders regarding potentially restoring the sports programs.

Read more about the lawsuits in the San Francisco Chronicle here.

Last July, Stanford announced it was cutting nearly a third of its sports, blaming the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cuts included the men's and women's fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men's rowing, co-ed and women's sailing programs.

The cuts would go into effect at the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year, and 20 support staff positions would be eliminated.

"This is heartbreaking news to share," read an open letter penned by President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell.

The letter said Stanford's athletics department was operating on a deficit projected to exceed $12 million in the 2021 fiscal year and grow steadily in the following years due to increased operating costs. The pandemic has exacerbated the department's financial woes, with a revised forecast accounting for the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis projecting a $25 million deficit for the 2021 fiscal year, the university leaders said.

The sports were selected for elimination based on several factors including cost, interest and the local and national interest in the sport, gender equality Title IX impact and impact on the diversity of the school's student-athlete population.

But recent outcry, with help from an alumni organization called 36SportsStrong that includes 39 Olympians and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a former Stanford football player, has led to backlash against the university's decision. The group has raised more than $50 million in funding to save the sports, according to ESPN.

Last month, a group of Stanford students protested the decision at the school's quad, painting graffiti outside the office of Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the university's president, that read "We Belong," "Let Us Play," and "You Can't Cut Me."

Patch editor Gideon Rubin contributed to this report.