Sports
Trump admin says SJSU now faces ‘impending enforcement’ for transgender volleyball scandal conflict
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FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s Department of Education said it has notified San Jose State University (SJSU) that it faces “impending enforcement action” for its “refusal to comply with Title IX.”
SJSU and the California State University (CSU) system filed a lawsuit earlier in March to challenge an Education Department investigation that determined the university violated Title IX in its handling of a biological male transgender volleyball player on a women’s team from 2022-24.
Now, the administration is cracking down against that resistance.
“We have provided SJSU with multiple opportunities to resolve its Title IX violations with common sense actions: separating male and female athletes based on their biological sex, keeping men out of women’s locker rooms and bathrooms, restoring rightfully-earned titles and accolades to female athletes, and apologizing to the women forced to forfeit competitions to protect themselves,” Kimberly Richey, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said in an announcement.
“Yet, SJSU remains obstinate, choosing a radical ideology over safety, dignity, and fairness for its own students. With today’s action, the Department is putting the university on notice: comply with the law or risk losing its federal funding.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to SJSU and CSU for a response.
Brooke Slusser and Blaire Fleming of the San Jose State Spartans call a play against the Air Force Falcons on Oct. 19, 2024, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
The conflict between Trump’s administration and the school stems back to the 2024 season, when a national controversy involving transgender player Blaire Fleming triggered an election-cycle media firestorm, all during Trump’s third White House campaign.
The Education Department’s investigation has claimed, “SJSU actively recruited and allowed a male to compete on the women’s indoor and beach volleyball teams and reportedly instructed members of the coaching staff not to tell the female players that the athlete was a male.”
The investigation added that “on multiple occasions, the male athlete spiked the ball so forcefully that it knocked females on the opposing team to the ground.”
One of the standout details of the investigation’s findings was that a female SJSU player “discovered that the male student had conspired to have a member of the opposing team spike her in the face during an upcoming match. SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected this female athlete to a Title IX complaint for reportedly ‘misgendering’ the male athlete when discussing this incident in online videos and interviews.”
Former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser has included those allegations in her ongoing lawsuit against representatives of SJSU and CSU.
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After SJSU and CSU announced they were suing the Trump administration to challenge the findings, Slusser, and other former NCAA players, came forward about their alleged experience during the scandal, and how it affected them, in recent interviews with Fox News Digital.
Slusser, who shared an apartment with Fleming at SJSU without knowing the athlete’s birth sex, became the subject of viral debate after her interview reflecting on the experience sharing spaces with Fleming.
“You find out you’re just chilling in a bed with a man that you have no idea about… I [was] unknowingly sharing a bed at that time with a man,” Slusser said, also alleging SJSU volleyball coach Todd Kress encouraged her to live in the same apartment as the trans teammate when another group of players was also looking for a final tenant.
Former Utah State volleyball star Kaylie Ray told Fox News Digital that during matches against SJSU and Fleming in 2022 and ’23, before Fleming’s birth sex was known, she had teammates suffer finger injuries from the trans athlete’s spikes.
“I had teammates who had seriously jammed their fingers, luckily not broken, but a handful of girls who had sustained minor injuries from the male player,” Ray said, adding, “We knew that if the male athlete had a phenomenal game, there was nothing we could do to stop that person.”
Ray’s Utah State team became one of five teams to forfeit at least one game to SJSU in 2024, seemingly in protest of Fleming. She says the forfeit impacted her team’s hopes of winning their fourth straight Mountain West championship.
Meanwhile, the University of Wyoming forfeited two matches to SJSU in 2024. Former Cowgirls player Macey Boggs told Fox News Digital that the decisions to forfeit the games “permanently ruined” friendships among her teammates.
“There were some of the girls who I really enjoyed, and we got along great, and then this situation came up, some conflict came up, and ultimately we went in separate directions because of that… as soon as we played in our last game, we all went in separate directions… it was hard to maintain those relationships,” Boggs said.
SJSU was plagued by a separate Title IX violation in sports that it had to resolve with the Biden administration in 2021. The university ultimately came to a $1.6 million resolution with the Department of Justice in 2021.
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The DOJ found that SJSU failed for more than a decade to respond adequately to reports of sexual harassment, including sexual assault, of female student-athletes by an athletic trainer then working at SJSU, beginning in 2009 when female student-athletes reported that the trainer subjected them to repeated, unwelcome sexual touching.
The department and SJSU entered into a comprehensive agreement to address the findings of the investigation, which began in June 2020 during Trump’s first term.
Now, Trump’s current administration is giving the school 10 more days to comply with a series of resolution agreements to resolve the volleyball situation, or face enforcement action, including referral to the DOJ and termination of SJSU’s federal funding.
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Rick Treadway, a former IndyCar driver who raced at the 2002 Indianapolis 500, died on Saturday in a motorcycle crash, the company announced. He was 56.
Treadway raced the 2002 Indy 500 under his father Fred Treadway’s race team. He started in 17th and finished in 29th in that race. He got his first start on the IndyCar circuit in 2001 in Kentucky midway through the season. He made eight starts the following season.
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Rick Treadway drives a Chevrolet G Force for Treadway and Associates Racing during the Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 17, 2002. (Robert LaBerge/Getty Images)
“The Indy 500 start was the highlight of Treadway’s INDYCAR SERIES career, which consisted of 11 races in the 2001 and 2002 seasons for his father’s teams, Treadway-Hubbard Racing and Treadway Racing,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway said in a news release.
IndyCar drivers like Conor Daly and Arie Luyendyk paid tribute to Treadway in posts on X.
Arie Luyendyk puts on his fire retardant mask before getting into his Treadway-Hubbard Racing G Force Oldsmobile during practice for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Ind., on May 10, 2001. (Robert Laberge/Allsport)
“Really sad to see this news today. If you listen to @SpeedStreetPod you know how much this name means to a certain segment of our show. RIP Ricky. We’ll keep doing our #indy500 driver research in your honor!” Daly wrote.
Luyendyk added, “Sad news hearing Rick Treadway passed away last Saturday. Our condolences go out to my former @IndyCar team owner Fred Treadway, Janice and Brian Treadway. Rick was a fun, crazy, humble, wild and brave personality.
“RIP Ricky. We are thinking of you, Treadway family.”
Laurent Redon of France drives the #34 Dallara/Infiniti car next to Rick Treadway in the #55 G Force/Chevrolet during the 20th Anniversary Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., on March 2, 2002. (Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
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Treadway previously competed in the Formula 2000 junior formula racing series and competed in the Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am Race from 2014 to 2018.
As if anyone needed a reminder, the Rams know how to go all-in.
Their no-fear approach and penchant for pulling off massive trades resulted in two previous Super Bowl appearances — and one Super Bowl title.
On Monday, with a clear eye toward playing in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium, they did it again.
Having already built a Super Bowl-ready roster, Rams general manager Les Snead added another gigantic piece, acquiring defensive end Myles Garrett — the league’s defensive player of the year — in a deal with the Cleveland Browns for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round draft pick, a 2028 second-round pick and 2029 third-round pick.
In Garrett, 30, they add star power to a team already bursting with it.
Garrett is a nine-year veteran, five-time All-Pro and two-time defensive player of the year. Last season, he amassed a league-high 23 sacks, increasing his career total to 125½.
Garrett is scheduled to earn $31.5 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.
Verse, 25, was the 19th player chosen in the 2024 draft. He was the NFL defensive rookie of the year and last season and had 7½ sacks for a Rams team that advanced to the NFC championship before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks.
Verse is scheduled to carry a salary-cap hit of $2.9 million this season, according to Overthecap, but is presumably in line for a massive contract extension.
“Thank you for everything LA,” Verse posted on Instagram.
“Thank you, Jared! Best of luck in Cleveland,” the Rams posted to X after the trade was announced.
Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) celebrates after a defensive stand against the Colts in September.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The trade for Garrett is the second major offseason deal for the Rams. In March, they sent the No. 29 pick in the draft to the Kansas City Chiefs for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then signed him to an extension that makes him the highest paid player at his position in NFL history.
Even before the trade for Garrett, the Rams were regarded as a favorite to play in the Super Bowl.
But the deal harked to other major moves Snead has engineered since the Rams returned to Southern California from St. Louis in 2016.
Yes, we’ve seen this act before.
In 2018 — two years after Snead traded up 14 spots to draft quarterback Jared Goff No. 1 overall and a year after the Rams hired coach Sean McVay — Snead traded for cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib and signed defensive end Ndamukong Suh before trading for receiver Brandin Cooks. At the trade deadline, the Rams traded for edge rusher Dante Fowler. They advanced to Super Bowl LIII before losing to the New England Patriots.
In 2019, the Rams traded multiple first-round picks for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, giving them a back-end star to pair with Aaron Donald.
Two years later, they traded Goff and multiple first-round picks to the Detroit Lions for quarterback Matthew Stafford, and then bolstered their Super Bowl chances by signing free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and trading for edge rusher Von Miller.
The result: A Super Bowl LVI title won at SoFi Stadium.
Now, five years later, after an historic Super Bowl hangover and then seasons that ended with losses in the wild-card and NFC divisional rounds and the NFC championship, the Rams are primed for another expected Super Bowl appearance in the stadium owner Stan Kroenke built.
Stafford, at 38, is the reigning NFL most valuable player. The Rams recently signed him to a one-year, $55-million extension that ties him to the Rams through the 2027 season.
The offense also features receivers All-Pro Puka Nacua and future hall of famer Davante Adams, running back Kyren Williams and multiple tight ends that helped make the Rams the top-scoring team in the NFL last season.
The Rams addressed their biggest weakness by trading for McDuffie and signing cornerback Jaylen Watson, his former Chiefs teammate. They join a secondary that includes safeties Quentin Lake and Kamren Curl, both of whom signed extensions.
While Verse is an ascending star, the Rams have added a player in Garrett capable of taking over games in a way not seen by the franchise since Donald retired after the 2023 season.
Garrett joins a front that includes tackles Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Poona Ford and edge rusher Byron Young, who was voted to the Pro Bowl last season.
That unit should take pressure off a rebuilt secondary and enable McDuffie and others to make plays that were missing in last season’s losses to the Seahawks.
So the Rams, once again, are clearly built for another Super Bowl run and a boom or bust season.
It begins on Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia.
The Rams are betting that Garrett is the piece that ensures it ends in the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium.
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Christian Pulisic is considered to be one of the best American-born soccer players in the world and is expected to be a major part of the U.S. national team’s run in the upcoming World Cup.
It’s why the goal drought going into a friendly against Senegal was absolutely bizarre. Pulisic hadn’t put one into the back of the net since Dec. 28 when AC Milan defeated Hellas Verona in a Serie A match.
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United States forward Christian Pulisic shoots past Senegal forward Cherif Ndiaye during the first half of an international friendly soccer match in Charlotte, N.C., on May 31, 2026. (Scott Kinser/AP)
He got the weight off his back on Sunday when he scored in the 19th minute of the U.S. match against Senegal.
“Now maybe we can stop talking about it,” he said after the match.
The Americans won, 3-2, despite Sadio Mané tying the match early in the second half. Folarin Balogun put the U.S. ahead in the 62nd minute.
Pulisic was scoreless in his final 19 matches for AC Milan. The score also ended an eight-match scoreless streak while playing for the U.S. national team.
United States forward Christian Pulisic celebrates with midfielder Sebastian Berhalter after scoring in the first half against Senegal in an international friendly soccer match in Charlotte, N.C., on May 31, 2026. (Scott Kinser/AP)
“I felt this confidence, like I have played really well in recent months, but all everyone seems to want to worry about is goals. So, hopefully, we can stop talking about it,” Pulisic said. “We have games ahead and I have to be ready.”
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Pulisic added that it was a relief to finally get the goal.
“The performance of Christian, for 45 minutes, was really, really good,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “He still has the potential to improve. But I think it is the way that he is training from day one. (The) way he played for 45 minutes was the habits that he created last week. Every day training with this attitude, with this commitment, with this energy. I think now we need to try to extend (it) until 90 minutes.
“I am happy for him also because after a long time, a few months, he scored again. Obviously, that is important for our players in the preparation to the World Cup.”
United States forward Christian Pulisic reacts after scoring in the first half at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on May 31, 2026. (Bob Donnan/Imagn Images)
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The U.S. will play Germany in its next friendly on Saturday. Then, it’s off to its first World Cup Group D match against Paraguay.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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