Lacrosse players detail inequity in lawsuit documents
Fresno State lacrosse hosts Yale in the final game of the season on March, 12 2020. (Photo courtesy of Fresno State athletics)
Updated Feb. 26, 1:30 p.m.:
The Collegian received evidence that shows the lacrosse team’s equipment discarded in the locker room showers after the athletic department moved the football team into the lockers. Megan Walaitis, a player on the team, confirmed this photo shows their equipment in the showers.
When members of the Fresno State women’s lacrosse team filed a lawsuit against the university on Friday, Feb. 12, five players, acting as player representatives, shared detailed experiences and conveyed one goal to no longer be treated as “second class.”
Women s Lacrosse Players File Sex Discrimination Class Action Against Fresno State for Eliminating Team and Violating Title IX
Seek Team s Preservation, Equal Treatment as Case Proceeds
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CHARLESTON, W.Va., Feb. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ Women s lacrosse team members at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), filed a sex discrimination class action against Fresno State today for discriminating against female student-athletes and potential student-athletes in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, charges the school and school officials with violating Title IX by depriving women of equal opportunities to participate, athletic financial aid, and treatment; eliminating the women s lacrosse team at the end of this academic year; and treating the team far worse than any other varsity team in the meantime.
Fresno State lacrosse making every day count in program’s final season
Hennessey Evans passes the ball in a lacrosse match against Yale on Thursday, March 12, 2020. Fresno State athletics announce the cancellation of all spring sporting events indefinitely earlier Thursday. (Larry Valenzuela/The Collegian) Feb 11, 2021
Last year, the Fresno State lacrosse team was the last athletics program to play in a game before the pandemic put a stop to all competitions. The future was uncertain at the time.
But on Oct. 16, its future was made clear. Fresno State announced that three sports will be cut at the end of the academic year wrestling, men’s tennis and lacrosse. The team is also dealing with threats of a lawsuit that would allege a potential Title IX violation by the school.