Iowa Settles Title IX Lawsuit by Adding Women’s Wrestling Team

Photo Courtesy: University of Iowa Swim Camp

Iowa Settles Title IX Lawsuit By Adding Women’s Wrestling Team

The University of Iowa on Thursday announced a settlement with female athletes that sued the institution alleging violation of Title IX gender equity protections.

As a result of the suit, which was led by swimmers, the university is adding a women’s wrestling team. It had already reversed course on cutting the women’s swimming and diving team in February, but the relief from the cuts did not apply to the men’s swimming team and the other men’s teams axed.

Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said that adding women’s wrestling had been on the radar for a while, to pair with a national powerhouse men’s team.

“I’ll just tell you, and this is the bottom line, were it not for COVID, we wouldn’t have cut sports,” Barta told the Iowa Gazette. “Were it not for the Title IX lawsuit, I wasn’t ready to add women’s wrestling yet. But I can tell you that while the timing may be challenging, the decision is awesome. We’re excited about it, and we’re ready to go forward.”

Iowa announced the cuts in Aug. 2020, to take effect after the 2020-21 season. It cited COVID-19 pandemic-related budget pressures. Men’s gymnastics and men’s tennis were also cut in addition to both swim programs.

Four swimmers filed a Title IX complaint by the end of September; a wrestler and rugby player joined the suit as it was filed in the Southern District of Iowa in December. The suit contended that the university was violating its Title IX obligations to female students by not offering equivalent athletic opportunities to men and women based on their on-campus representation.

In February, the university reinstated the program, after a district judged preliminary ruled that the women had a “fair chance” of winning their case. None of the four original plaintiffs remain on the Hawkeyes’ swim and dive roster.

Barta said the school intends to fund women’s wrestling to the NCAA maximum of 10 scholarships and 30 members. The settlement also includes a cap on the “likely inflated” number of women on the rowing team, which in 2018-19 was reported as 94. (Rowing is used as a frequent makeweight to offset the large number of football athletes, a male-only sport that has no corresponding female equivalent in terms of investment or scholarship numbers.) As part of the settlement, the university will conduct annual audits for Title IX compliance.

“They have maintained that women undergraduates at the University of Iowa were entitled under Title IX to additional varsity sports opportunities, and this exciting new development will assure that such additional opportunities will be available,” James Larew, the attorney for the six female athletes said. “Our brave clients have done a very effective job of serving as advocates for women athletes.”

Larew added that the plaintiffs were “delighted” in Iowa’s commitment to adding women’s wrestling.

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