Opinion ID: 6114506
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Participation Gap at MSU

Text: The district court did not make any finding as to the size of the participation gap.4 2021 WL 650712, at , 10–11. MSU used internal Title IX data to calculate a participation gap of 12 before the elimination of the swimming-and-diving teams and 15 after the elimination of these teams. R. 8-8 (O’Brien Rep. at 28–29) (Page ID #443–44). The student-athletes relied on data reported pursuant to the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) and web-roster data to calculate a participation gap of 25 in 2018–19 and 35 in 2019–20. R. 2-14 (Lopiano Report at 20, 35) (Page ID #217, 232). Title IX counts participants differently than EADA. Compare 44 Fed. Reg. at 71,415 with U.S. Dep’t of Educ., Office of Postsecondary Educ., User’s Guide for the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act Web-Based Data Collection (2019), at 31, https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/athletics2k20/wwwroot/documents/2019_EADA_Users_Guide. pdf (“EADA User’s Guide”). For Title IX purposes, athletes include those who (a) “receiv[e] the institutionally-sponsored support normally provided to athletes competing at the institution involved”; (b) “are participating in organized practice sessions and other team meetings and 1564448, at  (“[C]ourts have held that a disparity of 2% or less between the underrepresented sex’s percentage of participation opportunities and the underrepresented sex’s percentage of enrollment is proof that an educational institution falls within the substantial proportionality safe harbor.” (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)); Portz v. St. Cloud State Univ. (“Portz I”), 196 F. Supp. 3d 963, 975 (D. Minn. 2016) (“[A] deviation of less than 3.5 percentage points typically keeps the ratios substantially proportionate.”). We do not find this reasoning persuasive in light of the clear language of the 1979 Policy Interpretation and the 1996 Letter. 4Our dissenting colleague reads the district court’s opinion as finding that MSU’s numbers are accurate. Dissenting Op. at 19. We do not read the district court’s opinion in the same way. The district court found that, regardless of whether the gap was 25, 36, or 12, MSU complied with the substantial-proportionality requirement. 2021 WL 650712, at . We do not require the district court “to incant magic words” to make a finding regarding the size of the participation gap. Dissenting Op. at 19. It is not clear to us, however, that the district court made any finding on this issue at all. The language quoted by the dissent is a rejection of the student-athletes’ argument that MSU inflated its participation numbers. Id. It does not bear on the parties’ dispute about the data source, which is wholly separate from whether MSU improperly inflated participation opportunities. No. 21-1183 Balow et al. v. Michigan State Univ. et al. Page 11 activities on a regular basis”; and (c) “are listed on the eligibility or squad lists maintained for each sport”; or (d) “because of injury, cannot meet a, b, or c above but continue to receive financial aid on the basis of athletic ability.” 44 Fed. Reg. at 71,415. For EADA purposes, participants are students who, as of the day of a varsity team’s first scheduled contest “[a]re listed by the institution on the varsity team’s roster”; “[r]eceive athletically related student aid”; or “[p]ractice with the varsity team and receive coaching from one or more varsity coaches.” EADA User’s Guide. Nevertheless, at the preliminary-injunction stage, it may be appropriate to rely on EADA data to calculate the size of the participation gap. See Univ. of Texas v. Camenisch, 451 U.S. 390, 395 (1981) (“[A] preliminary injunction is customarily granted on the basis of procedures that are less formal and evidence that is less complete than in a trial on the merits.”). In the types of cases at issue, schools, not plaintiffs, are the only parties who have access to the underlying Title IX data. In Ohlensehlen v. University of Iowa, 509 F. Supp. 3d 1085, 1098 (S.D. Iowa 2020), the court credited EADA data in light of the university’s refusal to disclose the raw data underlying its Title IX figures. The court explained that when “[d]efendants declined to produce the NCAA squad lists, time and hour limitation records, and competition results that make up the raw data for official Title IX counts that they say supports their figures, despite Plaintiffs’—and the Court’s—requests for them to do so,” defendants’ position that the court should consider official Title IX, not EADA or web roster, data “is especially disingenuous.” 5 Id. at 1098, 1101; see also Biediger I, 616 F. Supp. 2d at 297 (relying on EADA data to support a preliminary injunction). Although, at the preliminary-injunction stage, it may be possible to show a strong likelihood of success on the merits based on EADA data, as litigation progresses, the appropriate inquiry turns on Title IX data, which counts participation precisely for this purpose. 5Admittedly, this case is different from Ohlensehlen in two respects. First, the district court did not ask MSU to disclose its underlying data. Second, although the student-athletes requested the underlying data from MSU, R. 13-7 (FOIA request) (Page ID #708); R. 13-10 (Limited Discovery Request) (Page ID #711–13), they did not pursue either avenue after MSU claimed that neither mechanism gave the student-athletes the right to access this information, R. 13-9 (FOIA Response) (Page ID #710); R. 13-11 (Email from MSU Attorney) (Page ID #714). Nevertheless, Ohlensehlen shows that, at the preliminary-injunction stage, there may be a need to rely on data other than official Title IX counts. No. 21-1183 Balow et al. v. Michigan State Univ. et al. Page 12