Quinnipiac University will not be required to reinstate women’s rugby to the varsity level after Judge Kari Dooley’s decision on June 30, 2026, following the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Quinnipiac can proceed with moving women’s rugby to club status while the lawsuit continues to trial in order to decide and rule on whether Quinnipiac violated Title IX.
The court concluded that Quinnipiac presented legitimate reasons for its decisions, including a required 6% athletics budget reduction, efforts to maintain Title IX proportionality, and compliance with conference membership requirements.
Despite the ruling, Judge Dooley called the decision to cut the team “pathetic,” and wrote “The Court does not reach this conclusion lightly and recognizes the hardship visited upon the student athletes on the women’s rugby team as a result of the decision to offer only club status women’s rugby.”
On April 14th, Quinnipiac announced their plans to demote women’s rugby to club status following the 2025-26 academic year, along with plans to reinstate men’s track and field, which was cut in 2009. The “Athletics Realignment” stated that “the initiative aligns institutional resources with long-term competitive priorities, fiscal sustainability, and the University’s ongoing commitment to Title IX compliance.”
However, the explanation was strongly challenged by the players and coaches of the program who viewed the decision as a culmination of unequal treatment, rather than necessary restructuring. Along with Title IX compliance allegations, the lawsuit details alleged retaliation by the school against the program and its leadership.
Judge Dooley found that the case, filed by 23 current and prospective women’s rugby players, acknowledged Head Coach Becky Carlson’s long history of advocacy for gender equality, saying that “the entirety of the record does raise the specter of retaliation.”
In the decision, Judge Dooley writes “Plaintiffs allege, and Carlson testified, that throughout her tenure she repeatedly raised concerns that the University treated women’s programs, female coaches, and female student athletes unequally.” Carlson was called “a thorn in the side of the Quinnipiac Athletics Department,” by her attorney, Lori Bollock. “Eliminating the varsity program was their way of getting rid of her.”
Quinnipiac’s attorney said “there is no evidence to support that claim” and while coach Carlson’s complaints were heard in the Athletic Department, “Not getting everything you want all the time doesn’t mean the team wasn’t supported.”
Judge Dooley ordered the case to move quickly, noting that if the players ultimately win at trial, women’s rugby could be reinstated as a varsity sport before the 2027-28 academic year. For now, the ruling allows the university to demote the team to club status, but the lawsuit is far from over. The school must still defend against Title IX discrimination and retaliation claims at trial, where it could face legal, financial, and reputational consequences.
This is not Quinnipiac’s first legal battle regarding Title IX. In 2009, Quinnipiac University was sued after eliminating its women’s volleyball team while attempting to count competitive cheer as a varsity sport to meet Title IX requirements. A federal court ruled that Quinnipiac had failed to provide equal athletic opportunities for women and the university was ordered to come into compliance with Title IX, leading to the addition of this women’s rugby program.
