(KRON) -- The U.S. Department of Education is ordering San Jose State University to apologize to every woman who played on the school's volleyball team between 2022-2024 for allowing a transgender player on the roster. On Wednesday, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced that its federal investigation concluded that SJSU violated Title IX when the university permitted transgender athletes to compete on women’s sports teams. SJSU is also being asked to apologize to other university's Division-1 volleyball teams that forfeited games last season "rather than compete against SJSU while a male student was on the roster," Department of Education officials wrote. An SJSU spokesperson told KRON4 Wednesday, "San Jose State, a member of the California State University system, received notification from the federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights regarding its investigation into athletics participation on our past women’s volleyball teams. The Department informed the University of the outcome of its investigation. The University is in the process of reviewing the Department’s findings and proposed resolution agreement." The OCR's investigation began in February 2025 to look into allegations that SJSU retaliated against female athletes and an assistant coach who did not agree with the school's gender identity policies. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said, "SJSU caused significant harm to female athletes by allowing a male to compete on the women’s volleyball team -- creating unfairness in competition, compromising safety, and denying women equal opportunities in athletics, including scholarships and playing time. Even worse, when female athletes spoke out, SJSU retaliated -- ignoring sex-discrimination claims. This is unacceptable." SJSU found itself at the epicenter of a national debate over transgender athletes in 2024. A player who publicly came out as transgender, Blaire Fleming, thrived on the court as San Jose State University’s 6’1″ starting outside hitter. Off the court, Fleming faced opposition from her own team captain and other players. In a lawsuit, team captain Brooke Slusser claimed her Title IX rights were violated by university officials who allowed Fleming to play. Several teams chose to forfeit their games against the Spartans in protest. San Jose State Spartans players huddle during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Photo by Andrew Wevers/Getty Images) The New York Times reported, "The season took a toll on all of San Jose State’s players and coaches, but Fleming told me it was almost unbearable for her. Fleming found herself being frozen out by other team members." When President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports teams. The NCAA responded by banning all trans athletes. The OCR investigation found that, beginning in 2022, SJSU actively recruited "and allowed a male to compete on the women’s indoor and beach volleyball teams." Federal investigators concluded that the transgender player gave SJSU an unfair physical advantage over opposing teams, and posed a safety concern for female athletes. Richey said, "We will not relent until SJSU is held to account for these abuses and commits to upholding Title IX to protect future athletes from the same indignities." This week, OCR sent a proposed resolution agreement to SJSU to resolve Title IX violations. The proposed agreement asks university officials to take the following actions: "Issue a public statement to the SJSU community that SJSU will adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ and acknowledge that the sex of a human – male or female -- is unchangeable." "Specify that SJSU will follow Title IX by separating sports and intimate facilities based on biological sex." "Restore to individual female athletes all individual athletic records and titles misappropriated by male athletes competing in women’s categories, and issue a personalized letter of apology on behalf of SJSU to each female athlete for allowing her participation in athletics to be marred by sex discrimination." "Send a personalized apology to every woman who played in SJSU’s women’s indoor volleyball (2022–2024), 2023 beach volleyball, and to any woman on a team that forfeited rather than compete against SJSU while a male student was on the roster." The SJSU spokesperson said the university is still reviewing the terms, adding, "We remain committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive educational environment for all students while complying with applicable laws and regulations." Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.  ...read more read less