By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
Concordia University Irvine (CUI) has been ordered to reinstate a pair of female athletic programs, including swimming and diving, after a group of female athletes sued the school over Title IX.
In May, CUI, an NCAA Division II school in Irvine, Calif., announced the elimination of four athletic programs, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s tennis, citing “increasing operational costs, facility limitations, and significant changes in the collegiate athletics landscape.”
CUI athletic director Crystal Rosenthal said the school calculated that the cuts would save $550,000 in annual costs, though a week after the programs were eliminated, she sent an email to unaffected athletes detailing a $25.5 million investment into CUI’s athletic infrastructure.
In mid-August, nine female student-athletes filed a sex discrimination class action lawsuit against the school in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, accusing CUI of violating Title IX by depriving women of equal opportunities to participate in intercollegiate athletics.
On Friday, Judge Fred W. Slaughter issued a 29-page order granting the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, barring CUI from “eliminating its women’s swimming & diving team, its women’s tennis team, and all other women’s varsity teams at CUI for the 2025-26 academic year, and for the duration of this case or until further order of this court.”
“To the extent that those teams have already been eliminated, CUI shall immediately reinstate them, and provide the teams with funding, staffing, and all other benefits commensurate with their status as varsity intercollegiate teams,” the order says.
The female student-athletes are working with Arthur Bryant Law, P.C., with Arthur Bryant serving as lead counsel. Bryant also helped William & Mary, East Carolina and Dartmouth revive their women’s swim & dive programs.
“The court’s thorough, compelling decision confirms what we said from the start: CUI’s decision to eliminate the women’s swimming & diving and tennis teams was a flagrant violation of Title IX,” Bryant said. “According to the most recent publicly available information, women were 59% of CUI’s undergraduates in 2024-25, but they were given only 51.2% of the opportunities to participate in varsity sports. CUI needs to add about 100 opportunities for women to reach gender equity. It should not be eliminating any women’s teams.”
Female CUI swimmers Alexandr Grant, Mikayla Barre, Kiera Gutierrez, Alexandra Leland, Ruby McCullough, Aliyah Treadwell, and Carissa Ward, and tennis players Jessica Bear and Bryn Johnson, are named plaintiffs in the case.
“This decision shows why women have to fight for the equality the law requires – and what they can accomplish when they do,” Grant said. “We are devoted to enforcing Title IX and grateful for the Court’s decision. My teammates and I are eager to get back in the water as soon as possible.”
CUI will now have to work quickly to find a new head swim & dive coach, as Bert Bergen, who served as the head coach for six seasons through 2024-25, has found a new job with an aquatics management company.
In a statement, Bergen said he’s happy to see the women’s program reinstated and believes they can quickly revive the program. See the full statement below:
I am thrilled with the announcement from the court on Friday immediately reinstating the women’s swim and dive and tennis teams at CUI. I am very proud of the ten women who fought for their right to participate and am so happy they’ll get a chance! Arthur Bryant and his legal team were amazing in their efforts from the start, and getting this news from a number of excited women on Friday absolutely made my day.
I am confident that the University will do everything they can to get the swim and dive program back on its feet right away. I know that there are plenty of meets they can participate in and that the City of Irvine has their pool availability waiting at Woollett Aquatic Center. Getting a new staff in, the student-athletes cleared to participate and back in the water and reconnecting with the many recruits who’ve been reaching out since Friday should be the priorities this week! I know our PCSC Conference has already stated that CUI S&D is welcomed back with open arms and the NCAA will grant the necessary waivers for minimum roster size and competition limits when the university makes this request.
I am sad for the demise of the men’s program, the student-athletes who were forced to make difficult decisions to transfer and for my staff. We should never have gotten to this point and a lot of careers were derailed by this decision. I will be watching from a distance and supporting the swimmers and divers and the new staff wholeheartedly. I know our alumni base is ready to help restore this proud program.
Last season, the women’s swim & dive team had 25 roster members and placed 6th at the 2025 PCSC Championships.
CUI is not the first women’s swim & dive program to have been eliminated and then reinstated due to Title IX violations. William & Mary reinstated its women’s team in October 2020, while East Carolina and Dartmouth both did so in early 2021.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Concordia University Irvine Ordered To Reinstate Women’s Swim & Dive, Tennis Teams
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