Quinnipiac University women’s rugby players sued Quinnipiac University Friday aiming to have their program reinstated to varsity status.
Quinnipiac University announced on April 14, 2026 that it decided to eliminate the Quinnipiac women’s rugby team as a Division I program, relegating it to a club sport.
The lawsuit also claims that the university is guilty of sex discrimination and eliminated their program in retaliation for earlier complaints about said sex discrimination and violation of Title IX statutes.
“Coach [Becky] Carlson has been a coach there for a long time, and during her tenure there, she was extremely vocal about the concerns that she had regarding Title IX, the lack of of equity for female athletes at the institution, and she made those complaints known annually, as well as publicly,” said Christine Brown, legal counsel for the 23 Quinnipiac University women’s rugby players filing suit against Quinnipiac. “We are alleging that the athletes’ program being eliminated as a sport is a result of the institution taking retaliatory action against her in which the athletes became the victims.”
According to Brown, the purpose of the lawsuit is to prove that Quinnipiac has not provided equal opportunities and benefits to male and female athletes.
“We are asking the court to look at these issues regarding the imbalance of treatment and benefits for athletes and reach in and do what is necessary to equalize it,” Brown said.
The lawsuit states: “The decision is particularly troubling because women’s varsity rugby was one of the very programs QU expanded and relied upon following prior Title IX litigation in this very Court concerning inequitable athletic participation opportunities for women.”
Quinnipiac University was also sued in August of last year by former women’s lacrosse coach Tanya Kotowicz over alleged sex discrimination and violation of Title IX. Quinnipiac University and Kotowicz settled the case for an undisclosed amount.
When Kotowicz’s departure from Quinnipiac women’s lacrosse program was announced in early 2024, Quinnipiac women’s rugby coach Becky Carlson posted a response on X.
“This is outrageous and not the whole story. The coach didn’t ‘leave the program.’ Coach K is an outstanding person of moral character who deserved better. The truth will come out. As a colleague, I am disgusted,” Carlson said.
In 2012, Quinnipiac was also sued after it attempted to eliminate the women’s volleyball varsity program, and QU was found to be in violation of Title IX in that case.
Brown also described that this is among one of the first Title IX class-action lawsuits to challenge how a single university is applying the House vs. NCAA settlement.
This is in reference to the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement, which ended the NCAA’s amateurism model by allowing Division I universities to directly compensate athletes through a revenue-sharing system.
Along with the lawsuit alleging discrimination, the plaintiffs also filed a motion asking the court to immediately reinstate the team. A hearing is set for June 6 in Connecticut District Court.
Quinnipiac University, Quinnipiac University Board of Trustees, Quinnipiac President Marie Hardin and Quinnipiac Athletic Director Greg Amodio are stated as the defendants.
When asked for comment, Vice President for Public Relations at Quinnipiac John Morgan stated that the university does not comment on litigation.
