Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Miami dismissed from suit
Athletes sued after sports cut
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal judge has dismissed Miami University as a defendant in a suit arising from last year's elimination of three men's sports in the name of gender equity.
U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith said the school was “an arm of the state” and could not be sued for reasons stated by the students' lawyers.
For that same reason, she dismissed damage claims against the university and its officials.
However, she said it remained an open question whether then-President James Garland, Athletic Director Joel Maturi and the board of trustees individually violated the men's 14th Amendment right to equal protection.
Judge Beckwith said “they may well have violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment” if they hadn't acted to conform with Title IX of the 1972 education amendments to the Civil Rights Act.
She left that question for trial in May 2001.
“That's encouraging,” said Curt Levy, attorney for the Center for Individual Rights in Washington, D.C., which represents the athletes. He said reinstatement of the teams is the goal and he didn't care whether Miami or the individual defendants do it.
Tuesday, athletes expressed disappointment with Friday's ruling or refused to comment until they could meet with their attorneys.
“I don't think it's right, what happened,” said senior Michael Ambrose, a member of Miami University's Wrestling Club.
“I think, if anything, women athletes should be given more opportunities rather than taking opportunities way from male athletes,” Mr. Ambrose said. “I don't think women really got anything out of this move by the university,” he said. “I think the numbers just looked good on paper, that's all.”
Junior Christopher Tangen, 20, another member of the Wrestling Club, added, “I haven't heard any hard details about the case yet, so I don't really want to say anything until I have a chance to do some research.”
Miami decided to eliminate men's soccer, tennis and wrestling in April. Unhappy team members sued in November.
“We are pleased that Judge Beckwith ruled so quickly and that we are able to avoid a costly defense of a lawsuit that has no merit,” spokesman Richard Little said on Tuesday.
He said the teams were sacrificed “to meet federal law and provide equitable opportunities for our female athletes.”
Title IX created myriad opportunities for female athletes in federally funded schools and for women to coach them.
In addition to having no Title IX case against Miami, Judge Beckwith said the men had no claim against the university under the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection because no one has a constitutional right to participate in intercollegiate athletics.
Enquirer reporter Kevin Aldridge contributed.
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