Slippery Rock cuts swimming

It's official. Slippery Rock University which, several years ago tried to cut women's swimming and diving and water polo but was prevented by a lawsuit, has done so. SRU was prevented from cutting these viable women's teams because it had not achieved proportionality and the court ordered that SRU must remain within two percentage points. They currently are. Earlier in the year some of the original plaintiffs attempted to re-open the case when rumors of the cuts were swirling but the judge would not rule on how potential future proportionality would break down.

SRU administrators have said they plan on remaining compliant with the court's mandate through roster management though the article did not give further details about what teams might be expanding their rosters.

Lead plaintiff Beth Choike, a member of both the swim and water polo teams, noted one of the issues with roster management:

"It's not fair for teams because the ones not playing aren't getting the quality experience."

Case still closed at Slippery Rock

Federal District Court Judge Donetta Ambrose will not re-open the Title IX case against Slippery Rock University even if they do decide, at the end of this season, to cut women's swimming and water polo. The ruling by Ambrose states that because SRU has achieved substantial proportionality it can cut the two women's squads. SRU has not made a final decision about the teams which it attempted to cut several years ago but was forced to reinstate because of the initial lawsuit.

Though SRU is currently in compliance, I would imagine that cutting two women's teams, when your proportionality score is currently just under -2 percent, might throw the numbers a little out of whack. No word in the story about how SRU would remain in compliance should the cuts be enacted.