Colorado women's rape lawsuit to proceed.(NEWSWATCH)

An appellate court recently reinstated a lawsuit by two women claiming they were gang-raped at an off-campus University of Colorado football party in 2001. A U.S. district court had dismissed the women's case in 2005, citing lack of evidence.

The women's lawsuit claims that CU at Boulder fostered an environment that allowed sexual assaults to occur. The allegations sparked a major national scandal, leading to investigations and the departure of President Elizabeth Hoffman, Boulder chancellor Richard Byyny, athletics director Dick Tharp and football coach Gary Barnett.

The new ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said there was evidence that CU had an official policy of showing football recruits "a good time" and maintained an indifference to sexual harassment.

Janine D' Anniballe, director of a Boulder rape crisis center, called the ruling "huge," especially since "The university used all its resources to silence, stifle and shut down the entire process." But there's hope. "The fact that the lawsuit is revived shows that maybe there is some hope for justice and in some sense things have changed."

The ruling sends their suit back to the district court. Although ...