The court fight over the fate of Sonoma State University’s athletics program continues to evolve even as university leadership is poised to make a long-awaited decision on the future of intercollegiate sports on campus after an infusion of state funds and months of strategic planning.
In March 2025, seven student athletes filed a lawsuit against SSU over its sweeping cuts to close a $24 million budget deficit, including 100-plus layoffs, the closure of six academic departments and almost two dozen degree programs, as well as the end of all intercollegiate athletics. The plaintiffs alleged the university failed to follow its own rules in executing the cuts, derailed students’ education and deprived recruited athletes of crucial information that could have affected their enrollment decisions.
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A sign to save Sonoma State University athletics is posted on a door of the athletics department building in Rohnert Park on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Sonoma State University student athletes fight back tears, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 during a virtual town hall meeting at Seawolf as students, parents and faculty protest $20 million in budget cuts which would eliminate degree programs and the entire athletic department. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
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SSU sophomore Taylor Hodges and women’s soccer team member join with faculty members, staff and students join in a protest calling for the exit of Sonoma State Interim President Emily Cutrer at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Beth Schlanker / The Press Democrat)
Sonoma State University head baseball coach Jacob Garsez talks with the press, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, about SSU’s decision to completely cut the intercollegiate athletic program as part of campus wide cuts to faculty and degree programs to meet a near $24 million deficit. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Sonoma State University geology students crowd into Seawolf Plaza, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 during a virtual town hall meeting involving university administrators, as students, parents and faculty protest $20 million in budget cuts which would eliminate degree programs and the entire athletic department. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
Kent Porter / The Press Democrat
Sonoma State University men’s soccer and baseball student athletes applaud and cheer a statement from Soccer coach Marcus Ziemer Friday, Jan. 24 at the SSU campus in Rohnert Park, during a meeting and press conference to address the university’s decision to shut down the entire intercollegiate athletic program. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
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The Department of Kinesiology and Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Sonoma State University students jam Seawolf Plaza, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 during a virtual town hall meeting involving university administrators, as students, parents and faculty protest $20 million in budget cuts which would eliminate degree programs and the entire athletic department. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
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A sign to save Sonoma State University athletics is posted on a door of the athletics department building in Rohnert Park on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
The lawsuit also challenged the university’s calculation of cost savings in abandoning its 11 NCAA Division II sports teams.
After first granting a temporary pause on the cuts, in May 2025, a Sonoma County Superior Court judge said the university could move forward, ruling the school — facing an unprecedented enrollment crisis and budget shortfall — acted within its discretion.
The case has continued to wind its way through the courts. On June 17, the California Supreme Court agreed to review whether an initial challenge by the plaintiffs can move forward. While the focus of that review will be procedural, there is also an opportunity for the plaintiffs to appeal based on the merits of the case.
An attorney for the student athletes, David Seidel, a former SSU Seawolves soccer player whose San Francisco-based firm is handling the case pro bono, declined to comment. SSU also declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The Sonoma State University women’s soccer team embrace, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Rohnert Park, after hearing all athletic programs and other departments would be dropped at SSU to offset a $23.9 million deficit at the school. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
In appellate court briefings in September 2025, attorneys for then-SSU Interim President Emily Cutrer and California State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia argued the fight was moot, given the student athletes at the center of the case were no longer enrolled at the university and the athletics program was inactive for the academic year without plans for short-term reinstatement.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys challenged that the students could, in theory, transfer back and called defendants’ arguments an “attempt to insulate the CSU from judicial review” that “confuses the CSU’s reluctance to reinstate athletics with its impossibility.”
Meanwhile, under the new leadership of President Michael Spagna, who took the helm in January, SSU is charting its new path forward after a year of campus protests, rebukes by faculty and staff, intervention by California legislators and a windfall $90 million in rescue funds out of the state budget meant to right the ailing university and reverse some of the damage from the initial cuts announced in January 2025.
That funding included included $8 million to revive SSU’s athletics. The university had estimated it would save $3.7 million annually by cutting the program. The infusion was welcome news to the many who have fought for restoration but also raised more questions about how exactly the infusion of one-time funds could be used.
It is unclear how SSU’s unfolding plans will affect the ongoing litigation.
Sonoma State University president Michael Spagna with faculty and staff dance during the College of Science, Technology and Business commencement, Saturday, May 23, 2026, at the Green Music Center in Rohnert Park. (Kent Porter / The Press Democrat)
In a January address, Spagna said sports would not be returning for the 2026-2027 school year but left open the possibility of a future return. He called the recommendations of an athletics task force report developed over six months a “thoughtful starting point” but said a next necessary step was a “fiscal feasibility plan,” expected in the summer of 2026.
“This is not something where we’re delaying a decision,” Spagna said at the time. “This is an important final step.”
In April, SSU hired Joan McDermott as interim director of athletics to help with those efforts. A search for an athletics development officer is still underway, SSU spokesperson Jeff Keating said.
Keating said Monday that SSU will be providing an update on the future of athletics at a June 30 press conference.
Spagna reiterated but hedged his support for the return of athletics in a May interview on student-run radio station KSUN Radio, as reported by the Sonoma State Star.
“I’m taking a very serious effort to see if we can reinstate Division II athletics here at Sonoma State University,” Spagna said. “We want athletics to succeed at Sonoma State, but it can’t be at the expense of our academic programming. We also do not want to bring back athletics if it’s on the backs of students and increasing their fees.”
You can reach senior reporter Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On X @marisaendicott and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.