The Superior Court of Washington ruled in favor of Oregon State and Washington State Monday, granting a temporary emergency restraining order against the Pac-12 that will disable the conference from conducting formal board meetings until the court rules further. Judge Gary Libey, however, amended the order to allow the Pac-12 to conduct business regarding urgent matters for the 2023-24 academic year before 10 of its 12 members depart for other conferences next summer.
The hearing and subsequent ruling came less than one week after Oregon State and Washington State, which are the only continuing Pac-12 members beyond the 2023-24 academic year, filed a complaint against the conference and commissioner George Kliavkoff. The complaint sought to prevent any votes on the Pac-12’s future from occurring until legal clarity was obtained on who controls what is left of the conference.
“We are very pleased with the court’s decision today. It has always been our view that future of the Pac-12 should be determined by the remaining members, not by those that are leaving the conference,” said Washington State president Kirk Schulz in a statement. “This position is consistent with the action the Pac-12 Board of Directors first took when the first two schools [USC and UCLA] announced their departure from the conference more than a year ago.
“We remain firmly committed to exploring all options to protect the interests of our student-athletes, coaches and fans,” Schulz continued. “We look forward to the court putting the question of governance to rest so that Washington State University and Oregon State University can make reasonable and necessary decisions regarding the future of the Pac-12 Conference.”