How parents are fighting UC Davis plan to drop equestrian team as Division I sport
Jen Landes’ daughter called her in tears.
It was Jan. 9 and UC Davis had summoned Landes’ daughter and other members of the school’s equestrian team to a meeting. There, they learned from the school that they’d be losing their Division I status and becoming a club team. The change is slated to take effect following the end of this season.
Landes said that until several minutes before the meeting, no one on the team had any idea of what would be happening, including her daughter.
“Until the moment she called me in tears saying that they had done this, there was no indication whatsoever,” Landes said.
The equestrian team is preparing for its first home competition, Friday at 10 a.m. against Minnesota Crookston, since the news broke about the pending loss of Division I status.
Landes and others aren’t taking the school’s word as final, though.
Team parents have been working to help UC Davis stay Division I beyond this season, organizing a petition and GoFundMe campaign that have each gained traction. They said they are planning legal action. Landes also said that team supporters, parents and alums will host a protest Saturday at 2 p.m. at Howard Field on campus.
How equestrian team learned of demotion
Around the time that UC Davis held the meeting with members of the equestrian team, the school posted a statement. It noted that the equestrian team would transition to being a club sport, while stunt cheerleading would gain NCAA status.
“As the landscape of Division I athletics continues to evolve, it is important that we regularly evaluate how we best align our resources to support student-athletes, advance gender equity, and position UC Davis Athletics for long-term success,” UC Davis Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca said in the statement.
DeLuca declined to be interviewed.
Another tearful call after the news broke went to Dawn Gonzalez from her daughter Carmen Gonzalez, a jumper for the team. Carmen Gonzalez’s interest in equestrian activity dates to childhood, her mother said.
“She’s done it since she was eight years old so it’s been a passion of hers,” Dawn Gonzalez said. “Since then as a parent, we’ve tried to get her to do soccer, baseball, basketball, all of that. And there was no changing her mind.”
The team has had some success, with the school noting in December that the team was entering its spring season ranked seventh for the National Collegiate Equestrian Association Dual Discipline Selection Committee. The team went 4-4 in the fall and had several members “recognized as ECAC Riders of the Week and Month, with the team sweeping three weekly accolades,” the school said in a news release.
The team’s roster includes 33 athletes. Five are seniors.
Landes noted that the equestrian team had won two conference championships over the past four years. “This is not a failing team,” Landes said. “This is a very successful team.”
Fundraising for team’s future
Parents of the equestrian team quickly sprang into action after getting calls from their daughters.
A Change.org petition that was advertised as being created by team parents and sought to get UC Davis administration to restore the team’s Division I status beyond this season went viral. It had more than 37,000 signatures as of about midday Tuesday and was continuing to receive signatures.
Dawn Gonzalez launched a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $20,000. In an update to the campaign on Jan. 21, Gonzalez wrote that organizers had “reached a clear conclusion: To achieve our mission of having this team reinstated, we must now pursue formal legal action.”
Gonzalez wrote that funds received going forward would go toward retaining an attorney, case preparation and filing fees, as well as continued advocacy.
Francesca Bell, a former coach for the equestrian team, said she’d spoken with a friend who’d been on the team. “They’ve already gotten lawyers involved,” Bell said. “There’s a private investigator involved.”
Leigh Dundas, a licensed attorney, identified herself as a team parent when she spoke at meetings for the University of California Board of Regents on Jan. 20 and the following day.
Dundas, who didn’t respond to interview requests, has become known in recent years for her opposition to vaccine and COVID-19 policy, accumulating 17,000 Instagram followers. Video footage showed her near the U.S. Capitol’s entrance on Jan. 6, 2021, shouting “Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!” at police, according to the Washington Post.
Dundas told the board on Jan. 21 that its “legal nightmare” was beginning and that DeLuca, the UC Davis athletic director, had “threatened, coerced and intimidated” team members. “Mark my words: You will never let that man threaten our girls again or I’ll be making nighttime news to Tupelo,” Dundas said.
Kendall Lance, a former All-American for the team, said she’d signed the petition and shared it on social media. She said she didn’t know what was going on from the university’s perspective with the decision to eliminate the equestrian team’s Division I status.
“I don’t know if the decision is irreversible,” Lance said. “But I would hope after what I would consider kind of like public outrage, they would consider options to reinstate the team.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
