Judge: St. Cloud State has improved equity in sports, but work remains to meet Title IX

It’s been six years since 10 female athletes sued St. Cloud State University alleged violations of Title IX 1972, which prohibits discrimination based sex in schools or colleges.

The women filed their lawsuit in 2016 after the university, facing a budget crisis, eliminated six of its sports teams, including women’s tennis and Nordic skiing. They argued that the university had continually under-resourced women’s athletics, including providing lesser practice facilities.

After a trial, a federal court found that St. Cloud State had been in violation of Title IX since at least 2014. He ordered Cloud State to implement gender equality in its athletic programs.

Since then, St. Cloud State has taken steps to comply, including the controversial decision to cut its men’s football program in 2019, partly for budget reasons. It also cut men’s and women’s golf, added men’s soccer and improved practice facilities and locker rooms.

Every six months, the university updates the court on its progress. The university requested the court to dismantle a permanent injunction that was filed after the 2019 decision. It argued that it is now in compliance Title IX.

U.S. District Judge John Tunheim ruled Sept. 7 that the St. Cloud State provides equal opportunities for both male and female athletes to participate. 

But he said the university failed to show it’s in full compliance with Title IX relating to travel and per diem, and needs to update its policies to ensure equal treatment for both men’s and women’s teams.

Judith Siminoe, special adviser to the university’s president, called the ruling “absolutely good news.”

“Our preference would have been that the order would have indicated that the university is in compliance overall,” she said. 

Holly Schreiner, interim athletic director, said that the ruling shows that St. Cloud State has worked hard in compliance with the law.

"We're really excited to hopefully move out of being under the court ruling, and to just be able to maintain moving forward and making sure that internally, we're still in compliance with Title IX,” she said.

Schreiner said they’re working on travel and per diem policies and hope to submit a plan to the court within the next few weeks. 

It will include information about how often teams travel by bus, plane, and how far, as well as hotel stays and per diem meals.

Siminoe said in the past, many of those decisions have been left up to the coaches, but the judge said that’s not good enough.

“You need to actually have a written policy to make certain that these individual decisions are going to result in an equitable program overall,” she said. 

Donald Chance Mark Jr. represents the plaintiffs, female athletes. He said the university has made some improvements, but still isn’t where it needs to be when it comes to gender equity.

“We will certainly agree that they've made some progress,” Mark said. “But either you're in compliance with the law, or you aren't.”

Mark stated that he and his clients disagreed about St. Cloud State’s decision to cut men’s football. A better solution would have been to add another women’s program, such as lacrosse, he said.

“They had a much easier solution that they should have abided by,” he said.

Creating a men’s soccer team didn’t make sense because there aren’t other university-level teams in Minnesota for St. Mark stated that Cloud is not available to play so the team travels extensively out of state.

And while the university did reinstate women’s tennis and Nordic skiing, Mark said it isn’t adequately recruiting or promoting those programs. He said that Nordic skiing only had a few athletes last year despite its growing popularity in Minnesota, thanks to the Olympian Jessie Diggins.

Schreiner said adding another sport such as lacrosse when the university was already stretched for funding didn’t make sense.

“It's more than just the financial burden that comes with paying for a coach and student athletes. It’s support staff, it’s athletic trainers, it’s equipment people,” she said. “To just keep adding when you don't have the support staff to be able to maintain them isn't always the right answer.”

Schreiner said men’s soccer is growing exponentially in the St. It made sense to add a team in the St. Cloud region. She expressed hope that other universities and colleges in Minnesota will soon add teams.

St. All the female athletes who sued St. Some are still in Minnesota and others are living and working in other states. But Mark said they’re all still following the case.

“They're proud of what they've done,” he said. “And they're certainly interested in what steps St. Cloud State takes in the future to make sure that there's equity for all athletes.”