A federal judge has denied a University of Minnesota student-athlete’s request to reinstate the men’s gymnastics program while his lawsuit is pending.
The Board of Regents voted in October 2020 to eliminate men’s gymnastics, as well as tennis and indoor track and field, in order to cut costs and better balance athletic participation numbers between men and women under Title IX.
Gymnast Evan Ng sued one year later, accusing the U of sex discrimination and asking for a preliminary injunction ordering the U to reinstate the team.
U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson this week denied the injunction. She reasoned that an injunction is supposed to maintain the status quo while a lawsuit is pending, but Ng waited more than a year to request it, long after the program had been eliminated; no gymnastics coaches and only four former gymnasts remain at the U.
Nelson also rejected the injunction because Ng is unlikely to win his lawsuit. She cited a similar Title IX case in the Eighth Circuit, Chalenor v. University of North Dakota, which sought to reinstate men’s wrestling at the University of North Dakota in 1999.
“The factual circumstances here are essentially the same as in Chalenor. The University claims that budgetary and gender-equity issues lead to” the program’s demise, Nelson wrote.
“As in Chalenor, Plaintiff asserts that the budgetary issues are pretextual because the Friends (alumni group) have offered to fund the program … But the Eighth Circuit has already rejected those arguments, and, therefore, there is not a fair chance of success on the merits of Plaintiff’s Title IX claim.”