A former co-captain of a California university women’s volleyball team is completing her senior year virtually after enduring alleged on-campus threats and harassment for having filed a lawsuit against her school over the participation of a gender-confused male on her team.
The ongoing controversy at San Jose State University (SJSU) is representative of the problem-fraught, highly charged issue of men and boys claiming to be women so that they can participate in women’s sports.
According to the online sports news and commentary site Outkick, Brooke Slusser said that after the turmoil she experienced at SJSU surrounding her objections to male Blaire Fleming playing on her volleyball team, she felt like she needed to flee campus life and finish the second semester of her senior year online.
“I would just be walking and I’d have people say things to me, like I had one girl just scream ‘f— you!’ to me,” Slusser told Fox News Digital. “I was in the elevator one time at my apartment and some girls, as they were walking out, were like ‘oh, that’s the girl, you should have slapped her when you had the chance,’ so those types of things happened.”
“I literally just didn’t feel safe,” Slusser said. “Anytime I left the house, I felt like people were just like staring at me. I felt like I had to watch my back whenever I was on campus.”
Although the university reportedly had taken action to address the threats against her, according to Fox News Digital, “the mental toll of the experience with Fleming and her coaches weighed too heavily on her to remain in California.”
“It was probably the most traumatizing thing I’ve ever gone through in my life,” Slusser told Fox News Digital. “I was so drained, and I feel like for so long, I was just running on the adrenaline of trying to get through it and I honestly would say I was kind of numb to everything for a while, and I really did lose myself. I’d like to consider myself a pretty happy person, and I wasn’t that person for a while.”
In November, Biden-appointed District Court Judge S. Kato Crews ruled that Brandon “Blaire” Fleming, a redshirt senior, was allowed to compete in San Jose’s upcoming games.
An emergency injunction had been filed by nine female collegiate volleyball players, including Slusser, against the Mountain West Conference seeking to prevent Fleming from competing.
The judge denied their appeal, asserting that their suit should have been filed earlier, as Fleming had been active on the women’s team since 2022.
Assistant San Jose State head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose was suspended indefinitely last fall after she filed a 33-page Title IX complaint over Fleming, who she said has a clear advantage with his powerful spikes.
“I just want to protect women’s sports and protect the members of our team,” she told Outkick at the time.
Last month, after the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) indicated to San Jose State that it would be investigated for placing Fleming on the school’s volleyball team, university president Cynthia Teniente-Matson issued a statement to Fox News.
Recently, we were notified that the U.S. Department of Education has initiated a directed investigation related to Title IX in light of President Trump’s executive order with respect to athletics participation. As with any federal inquiry, we will fully engage with the process, follow established procedures and remain transparent in our compliance with all applicable laws.
While we adhere to legal and regulatory requirements, San José State will continue to act within our authority to uphold the values that define us as an institution. Our focus remains on our values, including fostering an environment that cultivates compassion, where every student has the opportunity to thrive. We remain steadfast in our role as a place of learning, respect and opportunity for all.