Ivy League Faces Federal Class Action Lawsuit over refusal to award athletic scholarships
In the ever-evolving landscape of college sports, one tenet remains the same: the Ivy League’s refusal to award athletic scholarships. However, they may be forced to forgo tradition pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by current and former student athletes at Brown University. A class-action lawsuit filed March 2023 claimed eight Ivy League universities unlawfully colluded to reduce financial aid and compensation for student-athletes. Grace Kirk ‘24, a current student-athlete on Brown’s women’s basketball team, and Tamenang Choh ‘21, a former member of Brown’s men’s basketball team, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Connecticut on March 7. Both Plaintiffs turned down athletic scholarships at non-Ivy League schools and claim that the Ivy League schools colluded to “refuse to provide any athletic scholarships or other compensation/reimbursement for athletic services.” The Plaintiffs’ claims are based on the pivotal NCAA v. Alston decision handed down in 2021, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA’s restriction on education-related compensation was a violation of antitrust law. The decision led to the NCAA instituting the Name, …
