Jesse Vasquez grew up in Corona, California, holds dual citizenship with Mexico, and has spent most of his life on the wrestling mat. He came to California Baptist University as a graduate student to use the last of his athletic eligibility—and he had a plan. A graduate assistant coaching position at CBU would let him train and work simultaneously, preparing him for what he hopes will be the crowning achievement of his athletic career: competing for Mexico at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
That dream is now in serious jeopardy.
CBU recently announced it would eliminate its men’s golf, swimming and diving, and wrestling teams at the conclusion of the 2025–26 academic year. Women’s programs were left untouched. For Jesse, the news threatened the coaching position that made his Olympic path viable, and he’s not the only one whose dreams were upended by the cuts.
Paul Kelly and Cooper Shore, two other wrestlers, came to CBU specifically for its Christian mission and values—a faith-based environment they couldn’t find at larger, secular universities. Now they face the prospect of transferring schools or giving up the sport they love.
Jesse, Paul, and Cooper are fighting back by filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, their only chance at preserving the ambitions that brought them to CBU. They are represented free of charge by Pacific Legal Foundation.
The university’s stated rationale for the cuts was that “changes are required to realize the university’s goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands.” But the outcome of those cuts tells a different story. After the men’s golf, swimming and diving, and wrestling programs are gone, the percentage of male athletes at CBU will drop to near-exact proportionality with total male enrollment. Male students will have access to just six sports; female students will have 10.
This is the predictable result of a misapplication of Title IX, a reform that opened doors for generations of female athletes. A Department of Education policy interpretation of Title IX from 1979 introduced a “three-part test” that schools often use to evaluate compliance, including whether athletic participation rates are proportionate to enrollment. But schools have weaponized that test’s first prong to justify cutting men’s teams—ignoring that Title IX itself expressly states it shall not be interpreted to require preferential or disparate treatment of one sex to correct an enrollment imbalance.
Cutting men’s programs to hit a numerical target is not equality; it is discrimination. Jesse Vasquez, along with the rest of CBU’s wrestlers, golfers, and swimmers, deserve better.
What’s At Stake?
- Students should be free to pursue the sports they love without being told there are too many people of their sex already participating in other sports.
- Title IX was enacted to expand opportunity for all students. Eliminating men’s teams doesn’t create new opportunities for women; it just means fewer students get to compete.
