NAIA Votes: No Men In Women’s College Sports, Texas Schools Included
For Immediate Release
For More Information Contact:
[email protected]
737-314-2450
Austin, TX – April 10, 2024: This week the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that their Council of Presidents voted unanimously to adopt a policy that says “only students whose biological sex is female” may participate in college women’s sports. This decision is significant as the NAIA is the first major sports organization to create and adopt a policy to protect women athletes from being forced to compete against men. The NAIA’s decision will have a wide impact; 241 schools are members of the NAIA in the current academic year.
Many Texas women athletes will benefit from the NAIA’s policy. Fourteen schools in Texas are members of the NAIA. (See list below) Last year, the Texas legislature passed a law (SB 15) to protect Texas college women from being forced to compete against men in women’s sports. Texas Values was the leading organization in helping pass SB 15.
Mary Elizabeth Castle, Director of Government Relations, Texas Values released the following statement:
“The decision by the NAIA to take the brave and correct stance to protect women’s sports is not only the right thing to do, it is a game-changer for all of the associations and policy makers in the sports arena. Neither colleges nor sports media will be able to continue to sit on the sidelines and ignore the pervasive issue of college female athletes having their trophies, scholarships, and victory stolen by men.”
The NAIA’s decision comes after NCAA champion swimmer Riley Gaines and 16 other female athletes sued the NCAA for failing to protect them from men who competed in women’s sports and undressed in the women’s locker rooms. To learn more about this lawsuit, please watch our press event here.
List of Texas Schools in the NAIA:
- Wiley College
- Huston-Tillotson University
- Jarvis Christian College
- North American University
- Our Lady of the Lake University
- Paull Quinn College
- Texas A&M University -San Antonio
- Texas A&M University- Texarkana
- Texas College
- University of Houston -Victoria
- Southwestern Assemblies of God University
- Texas Wesleyan University
- University of North Texas at Dallas
- Wayland Baptist University
Members of Texas Values Policy team are available for comment. Contact Ashley at [email protected] or text/call 737-314-2450 to schedule an interview.
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About Texas Values
Texas Values is the largest statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to standing for faith, family, and freedom in Texas. More information is available at txvalues.org.