Seven Sonoma State University student-athletes have sued the school along with Interim President Emily Cutrer, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia, and the CSU Board of Trustees over the January decision eliminating the school’s athletic programs and discontinuing 22 academic degree programs at the university.
Cutrer emailed a letter to all students, faculty, coaches, and staff on Jan. 22, saying the school was discontinuing 22 academic degree programs and six departments.
The decision eliminated all NCAA Division II athletics at Sonoma State.
Filed Friday in Sonoma County Superior Court, the suit alleges fraud and misrepresentation by the defendants and asks a judge to set aside the decision, declare it unlawful, and issue an injunction preventing the school from implementing the decision.
The plaintiff’s attorneys said Monday in a statement the decision “disrupted and imperiled the academic and athletic careers of numerous students.”
The complaint alleges university administrators knew about the planned elimination of sports and academic programs well before the Jan. 22 announcement, but kept the information to themselves until just two days into the spring semester.
Plaintiffs say SSU continued to recruit student-athletes without disclosing their sports would be discontinued as soon they arrived. They also say the school failed to follow required regulatory procedures before discontinuing academic degree programs, including failing to go through the academic senate, failing to consult with enrolled students, and failing to specify an adequate teach-out plan for affected students.
The students also say the decision is arbitrary and capricious and the administration’s assertion the cuts would save $3.7 million is inaccurate and not supported by evidence.
A message left for a Sonoma State spokesperson wasn’t immediately returned.
Trying to close a $24 million deficit
The Rohnert Park university said in January it is trying to address a budget deficit of nearly $24 million.
Cutrer said the school won’t renew contracts for 46 faculty members for the 2025-26 school year and several other lecturers and management and staff positions will also be cut.
Degree programs identified for the chopping block include art history, dance, economics, earth and environmental sciences, French, philosophy, theater arts, and women and gender studies.
The lawsuit claims Sonoma State continued to recruit student-athletes without disclosing their sports would be discontinued as soon they arrived.
The school blamed a $23.9 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year, at least in part, on shrinking enrollment numbers that dropped 38% the past decade.
Friday’s suit wasn’t the first legal action taken over the cuts. University coaches and sports supporters in January filed a federal civil rights complaint and threatened further legal action against the school over the athletic program cuts.
Benjamin Ziemer, a Sonoma State assistant men’s soccer coach at Sonoma State and spokesperson for a group called Save Seawolves Athletics, said the group has filed the complaint because the cuts will impact minority students disproportionately and cause other harm.
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