Lawyer here. By asserting claims under Title IX, which is a federal statute, they gave UIUC the option to remove the case from state court to federal court. Federal courts have jurisdiction over cases that raise questions of federal law.
Very generally speaking, Federal judges are viewed as being more sophisticated and impartial than state court judges. I stress, that is a huge stereotype I am making; many state court judges are excellent and many federal judges are not. I am only offering that as a possible explanation for why UIUC decided to remove the case. No matter what we on a message board think, UIUC has an interest in defending its processes.
I believe that there is only one federal judge currently seated in Urbana. He is a BA and JD graduate of UIUC. Perhaps that has something to do with his decision to recuse himself. So, the case had to go to a judge outside of Urbana. It went to Judge Colleen Lawless in the federal court in Springfield. I know nothing about her besides what’s on her Wikipedia page. The reassignment process typically is random, so I don’t read anything into it.
Will be interesting to see what happens.