<p>EAST LANSING, Mich. — A federal judge has denied a request by members of Michigan State’s women’s swimming and diving team for an injunction in their attempt to prevent the school from dropping the program.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou said in her opinion Friday that “MSU is best positioned to steward its financial resources for the benefit of the institution and its students.”</p>
<p>The plaintiffs in the case gave notice of their intention to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.</p>
<p>The request for a preliminary injunction was filed last month and sought to restrain the school from eliminating the women’s varsity swimming and diving team — or any other women’s teams or athletic participation opportunities. The plaintiffs contended Michigan State was in violation of Title IX and had a history of failing to comply with Title IX’s athletic participation opportunity requirements.</p>
<p>Michigan State announced in October it was dropping swimming and diving teams for men and women after the 2020-21 season, citing a financial crisis.</p>
<p>Iowa <a href="https://apnews.com/article/womens-swimming-iowa-coronavirus-pandemic-iowa-city-mens-swimming-ca1fe9e29f9d945ff65ad15a3387c0ad">recently said</a> it wouldn’t drop its women’s swimming and diving program after it had been among four sports the school planned to eliminate. Members of that team filed a legal complaint in September, and a federal judge announced in December she would grant an injunction to stop Iowa from dropping women’s swimming for the 2021-2022 school year.</p>
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