The week of April 11, investigators from the DOE will interview Iowa athletic director Gary Barta, coaches and other staff members of the athletic department to try to ascertain whether violations of Title IX, which requires schools which receive federal funding to provide equal opportunities for all students regardless of sex, have occurred.
An initial investigation by the DOE began in May 2015 after four former Hawkeye field hockey players filed a complaint against the University in January of 2015. The complaint states that in the opinion of those former student-athletes, female coaches and student-athletes were treated differently by the athletic department’s administration than their male counterparts.