Dept. of Education: San José State University in Violation of Title IX over Tran

[SVPete]

Dept. of Education: San José State University in Violation of Title IX over Trans Athletes Policy

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/01/28/dept-of-education-san-jose-state-university-in-violation-of-title-ix-over-trans-athletes-policy/

The Department of Education (ED) on Wednesday announced that San José State University (SJSU) is in violation of Title IX for allowing transgender-identifying males into female sports and spaces.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) initiated an investigation into the California school in February 2025 over allegations the university allowed a male to compete on the female indoor volleyball team and allegedly retaliated against female students and an assistant coach who opposed the school’s “gender identity” policies, ED said.

“SJSU caused significant harm to female athletes by allowing a male to compete on the women’s volleyball team—creating unfairness in competition, compromising safety, and denying women equal opportunities in athletics, including scholarships and playing time. Even worse, when female athletes spoke out, SJSU retaliated—ignoring sex-discrimination claims while subjecting one female SJSU athlete to a Title IX complaint for allegedly ‘misgendering’ the male athlete competing on a women’s team. This is unacceptable,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement.
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In its investigation, OCR found that the school actively recruited and allowed a male to compete on the women’s indoor and beach volleyball teams beginning in 2022, according to ED. SJSU allegedly told coaching staff not to tell female players that the athlete was a man.

I'll have to nose around a bit to see if I can find some news reports from when what I highlighted was happening.

[SVPete]

This gives a bit more background info:

SJSU volleyball captain, opposing players file Title IX lawsuit over transgender player

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/sjsu-womens-volleyball-coach-team-captain-file-title-ix-lawsuit-against-mountain-west-conference/3710617/

A lawsuit has been filed against the Mountain West Conference, the California State University system, San Jose State's women's volleyball coach and two administrators surrounding the ongoing controversy that one of the Spartans players was reported to be transgender.

The plaintiffs, including SJSU's volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser and 10 athletes from other schools, claim their Title IX rights are being violated by allowing the transgender athlete to play for a women's sports team.

The 132-page suit seeks a court-ordered injunction to prevent the team's transgender player from participating in an upcoming conference tournament.
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The suit also comes after it was reported that SJSU's women's volleyball associate head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was "not with the team at this time" for undisclosed reasons.

Batie-Smoose, who has been coaching the Spartans since 2023, came to the university with more than 20 years of coaching experience, per SJSU's website. Prior to her tenure with the Spartans, she coached at Fairfield University and got her start in Division I coaching at Holy Cross and Cornell universities.
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On Thursday, Batie-Smoose took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, claiming that she was "removed" from the team.

"I was removed from my SJSU volleyball team for standing up for my players’ rights, but I’ve gained a new team of courageous women fighting the mistreatment facing all players in the Mountain West Conference," Batie-Smoose said on X.

Batie-Smoose is also a plaintiff in the recently filed lawsuit.

Smith added that in addition to the suit seeking the transgender player be barred from participating, the plaintiffs are asking that the losses given to the teams that have forfeited games due to the player be removed.

Already, four teams in the Mountain West Conference — the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Wyoming, Boise State University and Utah State University — have forfeited games against the Spartans. Separately, Southern Utah University, which is not in the MWC, forfeited its match.

SJSU and the male player participated in the tournament.

[SVPete]

Ex-SJSU volleyball coach reacts after Trump admin rules school violated Title IX with trans athlete handling

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/ex-sjsu-volleyball-coach-reacts-after-trump-admin-rules-school-violated-title-ix-trans-athlete-handling

Nearly one year after Melissa Batie-Smoose slipped into unemployment after San Jose State University did not renew her contract as an assistant volleyball coach, she can watch the institution face consequences from the federal government.

Batie-Smoose rose to fame in the "Save Women's Sports" movement when she filed a Title IX complaint against the university for its handling of transgender athlete Blaire Fleming, in the fall of 2024. Her complaint included the first public allegations that Fleming conspired with an opposing player to have SJSU volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser spiked in the face during a match.

She was suspended from the program, and later not brought back, and she hasn't been able to find work in her field since.
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Batie-Smoose has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Trustees of the California State University (CSU) system, as SJSU is one of 23 California-based schools that are part of the system. Batie-Smoose and her attorney, Vernadette Broyles, believe the suspension was "retaliatory" to her Title IX complaint over Fleming.

Now, they expect the Department of Education's verdict on SJSU will give them ammunition in court.

SJSU is one of my kids' alma mater, but I hope Batie-Smoose wins enough $$$$ that SJSU adminicrats learn from it.