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UPDATE: On Friday, at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the court ruled a preliminary injunction preserving all women’s varsity teams at SFA.

In the injunction motion, the plaintiffs argued that SFA failed to show how the burden, the $1 million financial expenses, “overweighs the irreparable harm plaintiffs will suffer without the injunction.”

“The court finds that the financial burden self-imposed by SFA does not outweigh the harm suffered by plaintiffs. Therefore, the court finds that plaintiffs satisfied their burden for issuance of a preliminary injunction,” the order said.

For now, SFA will have to preserve the women’s beach volleyball team, women’s bowling team, women’s golf team, and all other women’s varsity teams at the university while the case is pending.

LUFKIN, Texas (KETK) – A Title IX lawsuit has been filed against Stephen F. Austin State University after three women’s sports and one men’s sport were cut.

Women’s beach volleyball, bowling, and golf were all among the cut teams, as well as men’s golf. On Thursday, at the Ward R. Burke Federal Courthouse in Lufkin, teammates from the eliminated beach volleyball and bowling team shared their testimonies.

Ryann Allison, who joined the SFA beach volleyball team in the spring of 2024, said she was promised she would be able to complete her 4-year contract when she signed with the team. Many of the other athletes reported being given similar promises. 

The plaintiffs also shared how losing their sport has affected their mental health and lowered campus spirit in their opinion.  When the teams were notified of their cut, it was via a 10-minute Zoom call. Many of the athletes felt like this was impersonal. 

Kara Kay, a bowling student athlete, said that at the end of the day, “it’s athletes supporting athletes.” Her goal is to create a better future for all women in sports at SFA.

The team was offered assistance with transferring, but many of them chose not to do so, for fear of losing credit hours. SFA is still recognizing all athletic scholarships for the former players.

In the second half of the day’s proceedings, SFA athletic director Michael McBroom spoke. He testified that the reason the teams were eliminated was due to three criteria: lack of student engagement, least impact on enrollment, and poor facilities. 

McBroom said SFA could not risk cutting any more men’s teams for being at risk of breaking NCAA rules. 

Every few years, SFA hires an outside Title IX expert, Helen Grant, to audit the procedures and practices of athletics, education, and facilities. 

This year, Grant found SFA was non-compliant with Title IX, by a 60-40 ratio. She told us SFA needs to add 300 female athletes to the university’s roster, a nearly impossible task. 

Grant encouraged the university to cut men’s indoor track and introduce female acrobatics and tumbling. She added that even if the teams were reinstated, SFA would still face a deficit in meeting the Title IX required headcount. 

Testimonies in the case are planned to continue until tomorrow in Lufkin.