Quinnipiac University, long at the center of gender-equity legal battles in collegiate athletics, now faces a new federal lawsuit over its decision to downgrade its women’s varsity rugby program to a club sport.
In a class-action complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 23 rugby players—who either played for Quinnipiac this past season or committed to play in 2026-27—have accused the school of Title IX violations. The suit names the university, its board of trustees, president Marie Hardin and athletic director Greg Amodio as defendants.
The plaintiffs, who say they have brought their case to “address and remedy QU’s historic and ongoing pattern of retaliatory and discriminatory conduct,” are seeking a preliminary injunction requiring the immediate reinstatement of the Bobcats program to its previous varsity status with no reduction in its funding.
A university spokesperson did not immediately provide comment in response to a request from Sportico.
Friday’s filing comes just a week after Quinnipiac settled a Title IX lawsuit filed by its former head women’s lacrosse coach, Tanya Kotowicz, whose departure in January 2024 was announced in a four-sentence press release that offered no explanation.
