The University of Pennsylvania has backed down to Donald Trump’s Department of Education by agreeing to resolve Title IX violations over transgender former Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas.
The Department of Education announced Tuesday that Penn is adopting strict definitions for male and female competitors under White House guidelines and erasing Thomas from the school’s record books. Furthermore, the school will award victories to swimmers impacted by Thomas’ inclusion in women’s NCAA competitions and issue an apology to those parties.
The Ivy League institution’s decision comes after the Trump administration suspended $175 million in federal funding to Penn – money that had been earmarked and funded by the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Thomas won a national title as a woman in the 500 free while tying for fifth in the 200 free at the 2022 NCAA Finals with Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who has since become the face of the movement to ban trans athletes from female sports.
The NCAA previously allowed each sports to govern transgender inclusion, generally deferring to national governing bodies or International Olympic criteria. It was under that structure that Thomas was allowed to compete despite originally swimming as a man before receiving hormone replace therapy. She returned as a woman in 2021 after meeting the NCAA’s hormone requirements at the time.
Since then, the NCAA has changed its policy to conform with Trump’s February 5 executive order aiming to ban transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports.
Transgender woman Lia Thomas (L) of the University of Pennsylvania stands on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle as other medalists in March of 2022
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas reacts after winning the 500 Freestyle finals during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 17th, 2022 in Atlanta
The NCAA changed its policy the day after Trump signed an executive order on February 5 that was intended to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports.
Thomas was banned from competing in elite women’s races ahead of the Olympics by The Court of Arbitration for Sport panel, which ruled that she was ineligible to challenge World Aquatics policy on trans athletes.
Now, according to the statement released by the Department of Education, Thomas’ records at Penn are being expunged as well.
Thomas won a national title as a woman in the 500 free while tying for fifth in the 200 free at the 2022 NCAA Finals with Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines (pictured)
‘UPenn has signed OCR’s Resolution Agreement to resolve its Title IX violations, which requires UPenn to undertake the following action items:
- ‘UPenn will restore to female athletes all individual UPenn Division I swimming records, titles, or similar recognitions which were misappropriated by male athletes allowed to compete in female categories;
- ‘UPenn will issue a public statement to the University community stating that it will comply with Title IX, specifying that UPenn will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs or occupy Penn Athletics female intimate facilities;
- ‘The statement will specify that UPenn will adopt biology-based definitions for the words ‘male’ and ‘female pursuant to Title IX and consistent with President Trump’s Executive Orders ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism’ and “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”;
- UPenn will post the statement in a prominent location on its main website and on each of its websites for women’s athletics; UPenn will rescind any guidance which violated Title IX, remove or revise any internal and public-facing statements or documents that are inconsistent with Title IX, and notify all staff and women’s athletics of all such rescissions; and
- UPenn will send a personalized letter of apology to each impacted female swimmer.
Gaines was among the first to issue a statement on the ruling Tuesday.
‘From day one, President Trump and [Education] Secretary [Linda] McMahon made it clear that protecting women and girls is a top priority—and today’s agreement with UPenn is proof of that commitment in action.’
‘This Administration isn’t just talking about women’s equality, but instead actively defending it. I hope this sends a clear message to educational institutions: you can no longer disregard women’s civil rights. And to every female athlete, know this: your dignity, safety, and fairness matter, and our nation’s leaders will not stop fighting for them.’
