A federal lawsuit has been filed against the University of Oregon, alleging sexual discrimination.
On Friday, 32 female athletes from the UO’s club rowing team and beach volleyball team accused the university of violating Title IX, a 50-year-old federal law that requires equal treatment of student athletes.
Varsity Beach Volleyball team captain and lead plaintiff, Ashley Schroeder said her team hasn’t received scholarships, practices in a public park, and sometimes has to remove drug paraphernalia and feces from the sand before they can play.
“If we were a men's team, we would never be treated like this,” she said.
Beach volleyball players said there is one bench in the grass next to their court where fans can sit. The city-owned bathrooms athletes use during games and practices also do not have stall doors.
Schroeder says she, as well as other members of the team were told scholarships were in the works when they committed to play for Oregon, but no financial aid ever materialized.
“We’ve had a handful of girls quit because they couldn’t afford it,” she said. “It's made recruiting really hard because if you can’t afford it, you can’t play beach volleyball here at the University of Oregon.”
Attorney Arthur Bryant said the women’s beach volleyball team’s treatment is only one aspect of the lawsuit. He said data, first revealed in an Oregonian newspaper investigation this summer, shows University of Oregon athletics spends more on men than women. Bryant said UO needs at least 94 more women athletes to reach parity with men’s sports. His lawsuit asks the university to add the club rowing team to its roster as a start.
“Title IX has been the law for over fifty years and Oregon needs to comply with it now,” he said.
The lawsuit also asked for scholarships for women athletes, damages for harm caused by unequal treatment, attorneys fees, and a judge to approve an injunction to stop future discrimination.
In a statement provided to KLCC, the University of Oregon said it believes it complies with Title IX, and is unable to comment on specifics in the lawsuit because it has not yet been served. The University also said plans for scholarships and a beach volleyball facility are in the works.
“In addition to all other benefits, UO has already previously committed to increasing scholarships and to building a beach volleyball facility on campus at a site identified via the Campus Planning process. This site planning process began in 2019 and the project is now in the development phase,” the university said in an emailed statement.
