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Quinnipiac University announced on April 14, 2026, that they were cutting their women’s rugby team. A program that won three consecutive national championships from 2015 to 2017.

This isn’t just any program. It’s a cornerstone of women’s rugby.

Quinnipiac’s women’s rugby team was one of the first NCAA Division I women’s rugby programs. It also produced international star Ilona Maher—whose impact on and off the field has shaped the VISibility of women’s rugby.

The timing couldn’t be worse. It’s the end of the season for rugby and rosters around the country are set, leaving Quinnipiac athletes with no warning and nowhere to go. “People have closed their recruiting for the next class, Teams are full, Scholarship dollars are taken and now we have nowhere to go,” senior Kelsey Thomas said.

Quinnipiac Athletics made the decision to support the long-term “equitable” and “competitive nature of the department.” The Quinnipiac rugby players disagree. “The decision to eliminate the women’s rugby program directly contradicts these stated goals and undermines a program that has been central to Quinnipiac’s national identity, athletic success, and leadership in women’s sports,” they wrote in their petition.

Cutting a successful women’s program to add a new men’s team raises a harder question: what does equity look like in today’s NCAA landscape?

And it's not just Quinnipiac Rugby.