The family of Katie Meyer, an NCAA-champion soccer star at Stanford who died by suicide in 2022, is slamming the school for failing to recognize their daughter during a ‘mental health awareness’ game.
On Thursday, Stanford hosted the event – a 1-0 win over visiting Miami – at the school campus in Palo Alto, California. But despite the recent memory of Meyer’s tragic death, not to mention her role in winning a national championship in 2019, the Cardinal neglected to mention their former goaltender, according to her parents’ attorney.
‘The Meyers want to be clear that while they are extremely disappointed in Stanford’s administration and their decision not to honor Katie, they have all the love, respect and support for Katie’s teammates who are now seniors playing in the mental health game,’ Meyers family attorney Kim Dougherty told USA Today.
School spokespeople did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, in Sacramento, a California bill inspired by Meyer has been signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Meyer’s parents Steve, left, and Gina, right, remain upset with Stanford University
Meyer, 22, took her own life in February of 2022 after being handed a disciplinary letter
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The new law stipulates that public colleges and universities must grant students access to an adviser if they are accused of violating the student code of conduct. Schools that fail to do so will risk losing state funding for student financial assistance.
The bill was the product of advocacy by Katie’s Save, which is a non-profit founded by her parents, Steve and Gina.
Meyer’s family is currently involved with a wrongful death lawsuit against Stanford over Katie’s death. The Meyers believe that the school failed to provide adequate support to Katie when she faced a disciplinary matter around the time of her death in 2019.
The lawsuit says Meyer spilled coffee on a Stanford football player who allegedly had sexually assaulted a soccer teammate. It also said that Meyer received a formal written notice on the evening of February 28, 2022 – the same night she died – that charged her with a ‘Violation of the Fundamental Standard.’
The violation put her diploma on hold a few months before she was supposed to graduate, USA Today reported at the time. Meyer was also reportedly waiting to hear of she had gained acceptance to Stanford’s law school at the time of her death, according to multiple reports.
Meyer was the goaltender on the national champion Stanford Cardinal in 2019
Her parents argue in the lawsuit that the notice came ‘after-hours’ while Meyer was ‘alone in her room without any support or resources.’ The lawsuit says that Meyer responded to the email ‘expressing how `shocked and distraught´ she was over being charged and threatened with removal from the university’ and received a follow-up email that scheduled a meeting three days later.
Her parents said in the lawsuit that Meyer had ‘an acute stress reaction that impulsively led her’ to take her life. The lawsuit also says that Meyer had told Stanford employees in November 2021 that she had ‘been scared for months that my clumsiness will ruin my chances of leaving Stanford on a good note.’
Stanford’s assistant vice president of external communications, Dee Mostofi, said at the time that the school l ‘strongly disagreed’ with the lawsuit’s claim that Stanford was responsible in Meyer’s death.
‘The Meyer’s family has turned the tragedy of their daughter’s passing into a law that will provide protections for other college students,’ state assembly member and bill backer Jacqui Irwin wrote on X.
‘Our public college and university students here in California are now protected under Katie Meyer’s Law,’ the Meyer family wrote online. We are so grateful to everyone for your love and support.’
