A court settlement agreed upon yesterday put an end to four years of litigation pitting Quinnipiac University against five women’s volleyball players and their coach.
When the university announced its decision to disband the women’s volleyball team in 2009, team members and their coach pushed back, suing the school for violating Title IX. The U.S. District Court for Connecticut and U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the university in five separate decisions.
As part of the settlement, Quinnipiac will keep its volleyball team and increase funding and resources for all its varsity women’s programs. The university has already added women’s golf and rugby and expanded women’s track, according to a release from the plaintiff's attorneys.
Quinnipiac will provide more scholarships for female athletes and hire more women’s coaches. The university has agreed to designate at least $5 million to improving facilities for female athletes, such as building new locker rooms, the release says.
According to the release, the settlement requires Quinnipiac to hire a court-confirmed mutually agreed-upon “referee” to track the university’s progress.
NBC Connecticut has reached out to Quinnipiac for comment.