Orchard Lake St. Mary's students claim Catholic rule punishes Black athletes

Three Orchard Lake St. Mary's students and their families claim a Catholic school rule that bars boarding school students coming from Archdiocese of Detroit or Lansing schools from immediately participating in sports if they transfer schools discriminates against students, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Wayne County Circuit Court.

They say the rule discriminates against students from majority Black areas. The three students and their families are suing the Archdiocese of Detroit and Catholic High School League. The students, all sophomores, attend Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep, a private Catholic school in Orchard Lake and transferred to the school in 2022. All three wanted to participate in athletics after they transferred, either in basketball or football.

At the center of the lawsuit is a Catholic High School League rule that states, "Transfer students into Boarding schools who are members of the Catholic League shall be eligible immediately ... only if they transfer from a residence/school that is not in the Diocese of Detroit or Lansing."

"These are archaic, discriminatory rules that they've set up that are having a disparate impact on minority populations, especially African Americans," said Jon Marko, the attorney representing the three families. "There's just no question about it."

Holly Fournier, a spokesperson for the archdiocese, wrote in an email, "The Archdiocese of Detroit and CHSL categorically deny the claims in the lawsuit but will not be commenting further on pending litigation." Under the rule, students have to wait a period of as few as 90 days to as many as 180 days to play. According to the lawsuit, the superintendent of Archdiocese of Detroit said in 2020 that the rule was intended to "level the playing field."

Jayden Savoury, one of the Orchard Lake St. Mary's students suing, said he was excited to play basketball at his new school until his coach informed him he could not.

"It was a little frustrating because I couldn't get to play a sport that I loved," he said.

Jayden's dad, Mark Savoury, said high academic standards attracted the family to Orchard Lake St. Mary's, but the athletics rule, enforced by the Catholic High School League, not the school, came as an unwelcome surprise.

Their lawsuit claims the rule violates the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, a Michigan law which prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, or marital status.

The students and their parents in an interview said that they worried being barred from athletics for what amounts to a season could affect scholarship possibilities in the future. Isaiah Hines, one of the student plaintiffs in the suit, said he was worried missing a season could "mess up our future."

The suit also claims that Bob Pyles, headmaster of St. Mary's, told the archdiocese and Catholic High School League about the rule in August 2022 in a written memo that St. Mary's would not enforce the rule because it violated Fair Housing Laws in Michigan.

In response, officials threatened to throw the school out of the league, the lawsuit claims. The suit is asking a judge to stop the rule and allow the student athletes to compete immediately.

Contact Lily Altavena: Laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Orchard Lake St. Mary's students claim rule punishes Black athletes