Marshall Backtracks on Plan to Cut Women’s Swimming Program

After a group of athletes sued, Marshall University is no longer planning to end its women’s swimming and diving program, the Associated Press and other outlets reported.

The student athletes had accused the university of violating Title IX, the gender-equity law that requires equal opportunities to participate in educational activities. University officials have said the decision to eliminate the sports stemmed from “managing the financial realities of intercollegiate athletics and addressing the infrastructure investments required to sustain Division I swimming facilities.” Marshall also planned to add Stunt, a relatively new women’s sport.

Marshall president Brad Smith said in a news release that the university changed its plans for swimming and diving after “external Title IX consultation indicated that eliminating a women’s program could potentially place the university outside the safe harbor framework of Title IX, even when the long-term result would be an increase in participation opportunities for women.”

“Leadership is about making difficult decisions and trade-offs, and sometimes those decisions are unpopular,” Smith said at a news conference. “But leadership is also about having humility to listen, to learn and to adjust course if new facts and information emerge. And that’s what we have done here.”