Brooke Slusser lost her scholarship, her health, and nine months of her menstrual cycle because San Jose State hid a biological male in her locker room.
Now a Biden-appointed judge has partially shielded the school – and the woman who paid that price is waiting on the Supreme Court to finish the job.
A federal ruling this week moved the SJSU case one step closer to the moment every women's sports advocate has been waiting for.
How a Biden-Appointed Judge Just Handed SJSU a Partial Win
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews – appointed by Joe Biden in January 2024 – ruled Tuesday on a motion to dismiss in Slusser v. Mountain West.
He dismissed all charges against the Mountain West Conference.
He did not dismiss the Title IX charges against SJSU and the California State University system.
Then he deferred ruling on those remaining claims entirely – waiting on the Supreme Court's decision in West Virginia v. B.P.J., expected in June, before deciding whether Slusser's case moves forward.
Slusser's attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women's Sports, is already signaling an appeal of the Mountain West dismissal.
"There's a real flaw in the dismissal of the Mountain West conference," Bock told Fox News Digital. "I think an appeal is very likely."
What Trump's Education Department Found SJSU Did to Female Athletes
This isn't a theoretical debate about policy.
The Trump administration's Department of Education investigated SJSU and released its findings on January 28, 2026.
The findings were damning.
SJSU actively recruited a biological male to play on its women's volleyball teams from 2022 to 2024.
Administrators ordered staff not to disclose the player's biological sex to female teammates.
Those women – including Slusser – shared locker rooms and hotel rooms with a biological male without their knowledge or consent.
When female athletes objected, SJSU didn't investigate their complaints.
Instead, the school filed a Title IX complaint against one of the women for "misgendering" the male athlete.
DOE Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey didn't mince words: SJSU "caused significant harm to female athletes by allowing a male to compete on the women's volleyball team – creating unfairness in competition, compromising safety, and denying women equal opportunities in athletics, including scholarships and playing time."
The school was given 10 days to comply with a resolution agreement or face imminent enforcement action.
SJSU responded that it was "reviewing" the findings.
The Same Biden Judge Already Ruled Against Brooke Slusser Once
Judge Crews is the same judge who ruled in November 2024 to let Blaire Fleming keep playing in the Mountain West tournament while Slusser's injunction request was pending.
That decision allowed SJSU to reach the conference final – where Boise State had already forfeited rather than take the court against a team with a biological male on the roster.
Slusser developed a severe eating disorder from the stress and trauma of the entire ordeal.
She lost her scholarship when she dropped her classes.
Her parents paid the final semester's tuition and housing out of pocket.
Her menstrual cycle stopped for nine months.
Title IX was passed in 1972 to protect women like Brooke Slusser.
A Biden judge has twice now ruled in ways that left her unprotected.
Why the Supreme Court Ruling on Transgender Athletes Could Finish What Trump Started
The conservative majority on the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in West Virginia v. B.P.J. on January 13, 2026.
Court watchers came away with a clear read: most justices appeared ready to uphold state laws that ban biological males from competing in women's sports.
Bock is betting on exactly that outcome.
"I believe the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex," he told Fox News Digital. "I think it's going to be a big win in women's sports."
If the Supreme Court rules that Title IX means what the women who fought for it in 1972 understood it to mean – sex-based protections rooted in biology – Crews will have no choice.
The Title IX claims against SJSU move forward.
Slusser gets her day in court.
And every university in America that has been hiding biological males in women's locker rooms will finally face the legal reckoning they've been dodging.
The Supreme Court's decision comes in June.
Democrats spent years telling women that men in their locker rooms was progress.
Brooke Slusser paid the price for that lie – and now nine justices are about to decide whether the women who come after her will have to pay it too.
Sources:
- Jackson Thompson, "SJSU Volleyball Scandal Lawsuit Could Be Impacted by Supreme Court Trans Athlete Cases After Judge's Decision," Fox News, March 4, 2026.
- "Trump Admin Hits University With Title IX Violation Over Male Athlete in Women's Sports," The Daily Wire, January 28, 2026.
- S.A. McCarthy, "Trump Admin. Threatens Action against SJSU over Title IX Girls' Sports Violations," Washington Stand, February 5, 2026.
- Amy Howe, "Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Transgender Athlete Bans," SCOTUSblog, January 13, 2026.
- Margaret Flavin, "Trump Admin Determines San Jose State University Violated Title IX in Trans Volleyball Player Controversy," The Gateway Pundit, January 28, 2026.
