The UConn women’s rowing team is safe, for now. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order this week preventing the university from eliminating the program until at least Aug. 2.
The team filed a Title IX lawsuit against UConn back in April, arguing that in cutting the program the university was no longer in compliance with the law.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Underhill ruled Wednesday that it was likely the rowers would prevail in their Title IX lawsuit against the university. Underhill said there is compelling evidence that UConn has failed to comply with Title IX since 2008 and has been inflating the number of student-athletes on its women’s teams to suggest otherwise.
“Plaintiffs have shown that it is substantially likely that UConn is not presently in compliance with Title IX’s effective-accommodation mandate, and cutting the women’s rowing team would only exacerbate that noncompliance by magnifying UConn’s disparity in athletic participation opportunities,” the judge wrote.
The restraining order will last until at least Aug. 2, when a hearing on a preliminary injunction will take place.