On Monday, Dartmouth announced it would not engage in collective bargaining negotiations with men’s basketball players, who voted to unionize two weeks ago. The historic union vote, allowing all 15 players to become members of the Service Employees International Union Local 560 chapter, was certified by the National Labor Relations Board just last week.

The news was expected, and it is yet another step in a lengthy, two-pronged appeals process through which Dartmouth will fight varsity player unionization. That process could take several years and go all the way up to the Supreme Court. (It is one of several labor and antitrust cases challenging amateurism, all of which could come to a head over the next few years.)

The Dartmouth unionization effort, which also recognizes players as employees, would unravel the NCAA’s business model of amateurism if it succeeds. Players would be entitled to everything from wages and augmented health-care benefits to employee protections like workers’ compensation. That’s probably why the school has never fought a unionization effort as hard as administrators are fighting the players union. The school called the refusal to bargain an “unprecedented” step in its history with SEIU.