In the break between the end of spring sports seasons and fall preseason, colleges and universities should use the summer to assess athletics operations and compliance. Athletics departments often operate on demanding timelines, making it even more important to pause before the season begins and ask the right questions.

We recently posted an article on Hunton’s Insurance Recovery blog regarding an important appellate victory the Hunton Insurance Coverage team won for clients St. John’s University and Hofstra University in a coverage dispute arising from United Educators Insurance Company’s (“UE”) categorical refusal to defend or indemnify the universities in student class action lawsuits filed after the universities transitioned to remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision is significant both for colleges and universities facing pandemic-related tuition refund suits, and for policyholders more broadly

Title VI issues continue to garner increased attention across higher education, making summer an important time for institutions to assess whether their policies are prepared for the year ahead. In addition to the risk of federal enforcement actions and lawsuits, student complaints, programming disputes, harassment allegations, bias incidents, and questions about institutional response can all test the clarity and adequacy of a campus policy framework.