YPSILANTI, MI - Federal investigators are looking into whether Eastern Michigan University's athletics program discriminates against female athletes, while the university faces a lawsuit with similar allegations from two former athletes.

An administrative complaint was filed with the Office of Civil Rights on April 26 - about a month after Eastern Michigan announced its decision to eliminate four sports in an effort to save $2.4 million.

It also came nearly two months before former women's tennis team member Marie Mayerova and softball team member Ariana Chretien sued the university in federal court on June 15, claiming EMU is not providing effective accommodation to female student-athletes.

The investigation by the Office of Civil Rights was revealed in EMU's motion to stay litigation of the federal lawsuit on July 2, noting the OCR's investigation raises the same issues made in the lawsuit by Mayerova and Chretien.

"In order to avoid duplicative proceedings and the risk that EMU could be exposed to inconsistent directives from the Court and OCR, as well as to take advantage of the OCR's expertise in matters of gender-equity, this Court should stay this lawsuit pending the resolution of the OCR administrative investigation pursuant to the doctrine of primary jurisdiction," EMU's response to the lawsuit states.

"The reasons for this filing are laid out in the motion, and they center on the fact the complaint and OCR complaint raise identical issues that are uniquely within the expertise of the OCR and over which it has broad authority," EMU Spokesman Geoff Larcom added Tuesday, July 10, in a response to the OCR's ongoing investigation.

The OCR's notice of the investigation states that it intends to determine "[w]hether the University's selection of intercollegiate sports and levels of competition at the University effectively accommodates the interests and abilities of members of both sexes to the extent necessary to provide equal athletic opportunity for both sexes...."

A June 22 letter from the OCR to EMU President James Smith sought documents related to participation of student-athletes, broken down by sex, over the past decade. A breakdown of those figures has been included in a reply brief filed in the lawsuit by EMU.

EMU eliminated the two women's sports in March, along with the men's wrestling and swimming and diving programs. Overall, the cuts impacted 58 male and 25 female student-athletes participating in the four canceled sports.

Despite the fact that EMU's cuts impacted more than twice as many male student athletes, the female student-athletes' attorney Jill Zwagerman said the university continues to be out of compliance in terms of the number of female student athletes that are participating in athletics, which is out of proportion with the percentage of female undergraduate students at the university.

Additionally, Zwagerman said the NCAA's Title IX laws dictate that universities must "fully and effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex," which she claims was not done by the elimination of two women's sports programs.

According to the NCAA, member institutions must meet one of the following three tests in order to be in compliance with Title IX's participation requirements:

Provide participation opportunities for women and men that are substantially proportionate to their respective rates of enrollment of full-time undergraduate students Demonstrate a history and continuing practice of program expansion for the underrepresented sex Fully and effectively accommodate the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex

According to budgetary and participation forms submitted to the NCAA for the 2017 fiscal year, EMU had 10,417 female undergraduate students, making up 59.4 percent of the student population, with 7,124 male students (40.6 percent).

Among its student-athlete population, its male teams consisted of 390 student-athletes, or 56.1 percent of its student-athlete total, compared to 305 women, or 43.9 percent.

Last week, EMU responded to the lawsuit, noting that reinstating the sports would not be possible.

EMU's response states that of the eight members of the women's tennis team in 2017-18, five have exhausted their eligibility. Only two members of the team, including Mayerova, have indicated an intent to return to the university to continue their studies.

At the time of the March announcement of plans to eliminate softball, there were 17 members of the team on the roster, four of whom have exhausted their NCAA eligibility. At least one plans to transfer, and only five, including Chretien, indicated plans to return to EMU in the fall, according to the university.