'I felt like I had to watch my back whenever I was on campus,' says Brooke Slusser
SJSU volleyball player warns 'there won't be women's sports' if trans policies continue
San Jose State University volleyball player Brooke Slusser tells 'The Faulkner Focus' guest host John Roberts about the player exodus from the team following conflict over a transgender athlete.
EXCLUSIVE: Former San Jose State University volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser is finishing her final semester of college virtually in her home state of Texas after alleged on-campus harassment, online threats and mental health issues that stemmed from the scandal that rocked the school's volleyball program last fall.
Slusser, who is currently suing the school over her alleged experience with former transgender teammate Blaire Fleming, told Fox News Digital that she and her family made the decision because she did not feel safe on the Bay Area campus anymore.
"I would just be walking, and I'd have people say things to me, like I had one girl just scream ‘f--- you!’ to me," Slusser said. "I was in the elevator one time at my apartment and some girls, as they were walking out, were like ‘oh, that’s the girl, you should have slapped her when you had the chance,' so those types of things happened.
"I literally just didn't feel safe. Anytime I left the house, I felt like people were just like staring at me, I felt like I had to watch my back whenever I was on campus."
San Jose State junior Brooke Slusser is from Texas and started her college career at the University of Alabama. (Courtesy of San Jose State Athletics)
The college senior first joined Riley Gaines' lawsuit against the NCAA in September, alleging SJSU volleyball coaches and administrators withheld information about Fleming's birth sex from her during their first season together in 2023, all while being made to share changing and sleeping spaces with the trans athlete.
In November, Slusser filed her own lawsuit against SJSU and the Mountain West alongside 11 other conference players and one of her former coaches, alleging Fleming conspired with an opposing player to have her spiked in the face during a match. That lawsuit also alleged head coach Todd Kress tried to have Slusser removed from the team.
Despite this, Slusser continued to play for Kress and alongside Fleming, all while being regularly outspoken in advocating against trans athlete inclusion in women's sports. Her advocacy garnered national media attention.
However, with that attention later came fear for her safety. Slusser alleges that she received multiple threats leading up to her decision to leave campus this semester.
"I had some threats coming in too, so you never know what people will do," Slusser said. "People threatened to confront me on campus, and just those types of things."
However, Slusser added that she did not report most of these incidents to the university administrators.
"I didn't because everything that was happening, it almost became like a norm, so I can't really do anything about what people are saying to me, and as long as they aren't laying their hands on me they can say whatever they want," she said.
San Jose State is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for potential Title IX violations that occurred during the program's handling of Fleming, and university President Cynthia Teniente-Matson told Fox News Digital that the university will cooperate in the process.
Brooke Slusser, #10, and Blaire Fleming, #3 of the San Jose State Spartans, call a play during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on Oct. 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
In the 2024 election cycle, 98.71% of San José State University employee donations went to Democratic candidates in federal elections, while just 0.91% went to Republicans, according to data from Open Secrets.
A San Jose State spokesperson provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing Slusser's situation, insisting the university would have taken action had the matter been reported. She simply opted to return home instead.
"San José State takes these matters seriously and would follow-up on any complaints or issues that are reported to us or we have information about," the statement read. However, for Slusser, even if the university had taken action to address the threats, the mental toll of the experience with Fleming and her coaches weighed too heavily on her to remain in California.
"It was probably the most traumatizing thing I've ever gone through in my life," Slusser said. "I was so drained, and I feel like for so long, I was just running on the adrenaline of trying to get through it and I honestly would say I was kind of numb to everything for a while, and I really did lose myself. I'd like to consider myself a pretty happy person, and I wasn't that person for a while."
Slusser is not the only one from last year's team who has distanced themselves from the university in the aftermath of the scandal. Nearly every player from the 2024 squad that had remaining NCAA eligibility entered the transfer portal shortly after the season ended in December.
Former assistant head coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who was the only coach on staff to speak out against the university's handling of Fleming and filed a Title IX complaint against the school, did not have her contract renewed by SJSU after it expired in January.
Batie-Smoose then suffered a vandalism incident when her home was shot at by a pellet gun earlier this month. Police have not determined a suspect or motivation, but Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital she believes she was targeted for her recent advocacy against trans inclusion.
For Slusser, however, the silver lining to the experience lies in the national impact she has made in the conversation surrounding trans inclusion in women's sports and recent legislative changes that have been made to address it.
"I went through a lot having to do this, but there still isn't a second where I've second-guessed it or wished I had never done this. It was hard but I knew it would be.. and there's still so much that needs to be changed, but there's definitely great baby steps in the right direction," Slusser said.
President Donald Trump passed the "No Men in Women's Sports Act" on Feb. 5, and one day later, the NCAA amended its gender eligibility policy in response to the order.
Still, many states in the U.S., including California, have refused to comply with Trump's executive order so far and are continuing to allow trans athletes to compete in women's and girls' sports.
"I get DMs from younger athletes weekly basically saying ‘I’m going through this, I've seen everything that's happened to you, how did you handle it?' and it makes me so sad that even young ladies in athletics are having to go through this so much," Slusser said.
"It honestly makes me so angry because I just genuinely don't comprehend how someone can not understand it this strong… It boggles my mind that they are still even trying to fight for it when everyone knows it's wrong."
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is set to get a vote in the U.S. Senate within the next week after passing in the House of Representatives, as Republican lawmakers aim to establish a stricter national precedent to clamp down on trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports across the country.
However, the bill will need support from several Democratic senators in order to beat the filibuster and make it to Trump's desk.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
