The University of St. Thomas has announced it will reinstate women's tennis after players threatened the university with a Title IX lawsuit.
Players learned of the news on Thursday, nearly a month after St. Thomas President Julie H. Sullivan and Vice President and Athletics Director Phil Esten announced that both the men's and women's tennis programs would be cut.
Olivia Paradise was one of 11 St. Thomas tennis players to retain the Bailey & Glass law firm in the fight to get their program reinstated.
"I think everyone wanted to come back so badly because we have such a close team of amazing girls and we're all best friends off the court," Paradise told WCCO Radio's Mike Max.
St. Thomas agreed to keep women’s tennis for at least four to five years as part of the settlement. Paradise said the timeframe was part of three agreements included in the settlement.
"One was to reinstate the team and the next was to create a gender equity plan because St. Thomas is not fully in compliance with Title IX," Paradise said. "One of the things we made sure of was that everyone on the team including incoming freshmen got all of their years at St. Thomas playing tennis. That's a minimum of four to five years."
St. Thomas released a statement about the decision on Thursday.
St. Thomas has an obligation to responsibly steward its resources. At the same time, it is committed to providing all student athletes with an outstanding experience. With this reinstatement, the University will be dedicated to having the women's tennis team thrive. St. Thomas will determine how best to provide an outstanding experience for the women's tennis players, including exploration of support from community partners, boosters and donors as part of this process.
Men's tennis will not be reinstated.