CSU challenging 'lawless overreach' in federal probe at San Jose State
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO - OCTOBER 19: San Jose State Spartans players huddle during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In the latest legal clash pitting California colleges against the Trump administration, California State University has sued the U.S. Department of Education to challenge the findings of a probe accusing San Jose State University of violating federal civil rights law by allowing a transgender woman to play on its women's volleyball team.
What we know:
The lawsuit, filed March 6 in the Northern District of California, seeks to block the federal government from following through on a threat to cut funding to San Jose State if it does not sign a proposed resolution agreement.
That threat could affect an estimated 66% of San Jose State students who receive federal financial aid totaling roughly $130 million annually, according to Cal State. It could also disrupt $175 million in federally funded research into areas including autonomous driving and the impact of space travel on humans.
Suing the Education Department "is not a step we take lightly," San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson said in a written statement Friday. "However, we have a responsibility to defend the integrity of our institution and the rule of law, while ensuring that every member of our community is treated fairly and in accordance with the law."
Big picture view:
The lawsuit is part of the legal backlash to the Trump administration's rollback of federal protections for transgender students and targeting of educational institutions that allow such students to compete in women's athletics. The administration argues those policies violate Title IX, the federal law barring sex-based discrimination in schools, representing a 180-degree reversal from the stance taken by the Biden administration.
It is "very rare that educational institutions have filed lawsuits to challenge (Office for Civil Rights) findings," said Jackie Gharapour Wernz, who previously worked as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights under the Obama and first Trump administrations. But that step is not surprising because of the second Trump administration's narrow interpretation of Title IX as not protecting the rights of transgender students, she said.
"This looks like a preemptive attack from CSU to go in and initiate an action instead of waiting for the Department of Education to file a lawsuit," said Wernz, now a consultant at ECR Solutions, which provides guidance on civil rights matters to schools and colleges.
The backstory:
In February 2025, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights initiated an investigation into San Jose State, scrutinizing the university's women's volleyball team. Cal State maintains that its decision to allow a transgender student-athlete to compete on the women's volleyball team from 2022 to 2024 was consistent with Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals legal precedents, the rules governing intercollegiate athletics and the Education Department's own position that Title IX prohibited discrimination of transgender people during the period in question. Its lawsuit describes the Education Department's actions as "lawless overreach."
"Our position is simple: We have followed the law and cannot be punished for doing so," Teniente-Matson said. "OCR has faulted us for following decisions from federal courts that bound SJSU; OCR has no authority to do that." Teniente-Matson also expressed an "unwavering" commitment to supporting LGBTQ community members.
San Jose State has refused to sign a proposed resolution agreement from the Office for Civil Rights, which would have required the university to make a public statement agreeing that "there are only two sexes" and to issue public apologies "expressing genuine regret and remorse," among other actions.
The Office of Civil Rights' letter of findings cautions that if the office "determines an agreement will not be reached" it may suspend, terminate or refuse to grant or continue federal funding to San Jose State.
The Education Department did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. A written statement released Friday by California State University said the system "vigorously disagrees with OCR's legal position and factual findings and stands firmly in support of SJSU."
"We will continue to uphold the law while fostering campuses where all members of our community can learn, compete, and thrive," the statement said.
Jorge Reyes Salinas, the communications director for Equality California, which advocates for LGBTQ+ civil rights, said the federal probe at San Jose State is just one example of "the attacks from the federal government against states or schools or public institutions that are protecting and supporting transgender youth."
The controversy at San Jose State started in 2024, when an online article alleged that a student on the university's women's volleyball team was transgender, prompting a string of opponents to forfeit games against San Jose State. The student-athlete's intercollegiate sports career ended in November 2024, according to Cal State.
Amid growing media attention, a civil lawsuit brought by a group of volleyball players alleged that San Jose State had violated federal law by allowing a transgender student-athlete to compete on the team.
A federal judge deferred ruling on the Title IX claims against Cal State in that case until after the Supreme Court decides a case challenging a West Virginia law barring transgender girls from girls' sports teams. The high court is also expected to review the constitutionality of banning transgender women from women's sports in a second case involving a transgender student at Boise State University.
In its lawsuit, Cal State argues that regardless of what the Supreme Court decides, its future ruling "cannot change the Ninth Circuit law that SJSU was obligated to follow and that SJSU did in fact follow from 2022 to 2024."
Cal State calls federal findings 'baseless and legally flawed'
The Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into San Jose State in February 2025, saying that the probe would determine whether the university "denies equal athletic benefits and opportunities to female athletes through an athletic participation policy that permits biological males to participate in women's intercollegiate athletics."
In its lawsuit, Cal State writes that San Jose State "fully cooperated" with the investigation, including making witnesses available for interviews and providing "over 20,000 pages of documents, a detailed narrative response to questions, and responses to follow-up questions by email."
But in January, the Office for Civil Rights concluded that the university was "in clear violation of Title IX" because it "allows males to participate in women's sports and to use women's locker rooms and bathrooms."
The federal office also found that the university failed to adequately respond to Title IX complaints about the transgender student's participation in the volleyball team. In addition, federal officials concluded that San Jose State had denied female student-athletes "scholarship opportunities, playing time, publicity" and other benefits, while gaining an unfair advantage against other teams.
Cal State's lawsuit argues that some of the Office for Civil Rights' findings did not follow proper procedures, because the office failed to notify San Jose State of all the allegations it intended to investigate.