As of the past few weeks, a lawsuit against Sonoma State University has been filed due to the sudden cut of sports programs just after the beginning of the semester.

The STAR was able to get into contact with one of the student athletes who is currently a part of this lawsuit to get an in depth look on their goals for the lawsuit and also how this is effecting their personal life.

“A lot of student-athletes would have trans ferred if we had known that our sports careers were threatened,” they said. He added that the student athletes were shocked when they found out that the sports had been cut, especially since all the work they had poured into their sporting careers. Although the situation at this point may seem grim, they were hopeful the future of sports programs at SSU would continue to thrive at least in the short term.

They also described a very possible outcome that may keep the sports programs at SSU for a couple of years longer if they are able to win the lawsuit. Along with this they are very happy with the lawyers who are representing the athletes, as they are doing all of this Pro Bono (for public good), meaning this is unpaid for and completely voluntary. They were also extremely grateful for the response the local community has given them in this time of uncertainty.

Beyond the lawsuit, the STAR was curious to know how they personally were dealing with everything going on and why they originally decided to come to SSU in the first place. They said that originally they came here to SSU since it wasn’t too far away from home, and wanted to play for their community.

The student athlete also said that they can’t imagine playing for any other school – which is why they are fighting so hard to keep sports here at Sonoma State. “It’s stressful, and it’s really tough,” they said while thinking about the past month of working to help build this case against SSU.

They weren’t sure how long the lawsuit would take, but were adamant about staying committed until the very end.

The amount of passion these student athletes have for their teammates, fellow students and community is astounding. Even after being blindsided by their own school, many student-athletes have made it clear that they wouldn’t want to play anywhere else and have decided to come here for a reason.

Now, the local community is stepping up to aid those who are looking to save SSU athletics from termination.

Although we don’t know how long this may last, the students will continue to fight hard to remain at the school they represent.