Trump Just Dropped The Hammer On San Jose State With One Ultimatum They Never Saw Coming

The controversy that ripped through the college last season just reached its final judgment.

San Jose State thought they could get away with what they did.

And Trump just dropped the hammer on San Jose State with one ultimatum they never saw coming.

Education Department Finds San Jose State Violated Title IX

The Department of Education delivered its verdict on San Jose State's handling of transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming.

The university violated Title IX by allowing a biological male to compete on the women's volleyball team.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey didn't mince words about what San Jose State did to female athletes.

"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," Richey said.

The investigation started last February after seven teams forfeited games rather than compete against San Jose State during the 2024 season.

Former co-captain Brooke Slusser had been sharing locker rooms and hotel rooms with Fleming during the 2023 season without being told Fleming is a biological male.

Former assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint about the situation and got suspended for it.

The school never renewed her contract.

But the Education Department found something even worse than San Jose State putting a male athlete on the women's team.

University Retaliated Against Athletes Who Spoke Out

The real scandal isn't just that San Jose State allowed Fleming to compete.

The school retaliated against female athletes who objected.

Slusser alleged in her November 2024 lawsuit that Fleming conspired with Colorado State player Malaya Jones to have Slusser spiked in the face during a match on October 3, 2024.

Multiple teammates told investigators they witnessed the conversation between Fleming and Jones the night before where they discussed leaving the net open and targeting Slusser.

San Jose State never investigated the alleged conspiracy against one of their own athletes.

Instead, the school filed a Title IX complaint against Slusser for "misgendering" Fleming in online videos and interviews.

The Education Department found this retaliation "unacceptable."

San Jose State Athletic Director Jeff Konya couldn't even confirm whether witnesses corroborated the allegations against Fleming when Fox News asked him directly.

"I have no idea if she's telling the truth or not," Konya said about Slusser's claims.

The Mountain West Conference hired the same law firm defending them against Slusser's lawsuit to investigate the allegations.

Timothy Heaphy led the investigation for Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

He previously served as chief investigative counsel for the January 6 Committee.

The firm later scrubbed their website of a press release bragging about successfully defending the Mountain West against having Fleming ruled ineligible.

They claimed insufficient evidence existed to discipline Fleming.

Female Athletes Paid Devastating Price

The situation destroyed Brooke Slusser's health and education.

The stress caused her to develop an eating disorder that got so severe she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months.

She dropped from 160 pounds to 128 pounds in one semester.

For someone who's 5-foot-11, that weight loss was dangerous.

"As soon as the season was over, she came home for Christmas, and we were like, 'You're not going back,'" her father Paul Slusser told Fox News.

Brooke tried completing her final semester online but had to drop the classes.

Dropping classes meant losing her Division I scholarship.

Her family had to pay the full semester's tuition and housing out of pocket.

She's no longer a San Jose State student and will finish her education elsewhere.

Batie-Smoose alleges head coach Todd Kress told her Fleming was male but threatened to fire her if she told other athletes or their parents.

Trump Administration Gives San Jose State 10-Day Ultimatum

The Education Department gave San Jose State 10 days to comply with five specific requirements or face "imminent enforcement action."

The university must issue a public statement adopting biology-based definitions of male and female and acknowledge that biological sex is unchangeable.

San Jose State must separate sports and intimate facilities based on biological sex going forward.

The school must restore all individual athletic records and titles to the female athletes who lost them to Fleming.

San Jose State must send personalized apology letters to every female athlete affected by allowing Fleming to compete.

That includes every woman who played volleyball from 2022 to 2024 and every woman on teams that forfeited rather than compete against a biological male.

This follows the Trump Administration's successful resolution with the University of Pennsylvania over transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

Penn stripped Thomas of all records and apologized to female swimmers after the Education Department found Title IX violations.

Wagner College reached a similar agreement over transgender fencer Redmond Sullivan.

The difference is San Jose State has just 10 days to comply.

The clock is ticking on whether San Jose State will do the right thing or fight the federal government and lose their funding.

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Sources:

• Jackson Thompson, "Trump admin determines SJSU violated Title IX with handling of trans volleyball player Blaire Fleming," Fox News, January 28, 2026.
• Multiple outlets, "UPenn updates swimming records to settle with feds on transgender athletes case," NPR, July 2, 2025.
• Various reports, "Riley Gaines transgender NCAA lawsuit," USA TODAY, September 26, 2025.